


The Path to Happiness

by nerdzeword



Series: Path to Happiness [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, F/M, I'm in the process of adding tags, also some other stuff, how do you words, i suck at tagging things, just a bunch of bros being bros
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-14
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-03-07 12:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3173500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdzeword/pseuds/nerdzeword
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco, Theo and Blaise have a family that no one knows about. They would to anything to protect it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure how regularly I'll be updating this, so don't be discouraged if it ends up being a month between updates. It will depend entirely on my school schedule, and how much of a social life I bother to have this semester.
> 
> I do not own any characters. Merely the situations they find themselves in.
> 
> You can find some art of the characters on my blog, nerdzewordart.tumblr.com/tagged/path to happiness.

 

> "People can hate on you for doing what it is that makes you happy, but ultimately, it has to belong to you. It shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks. Life is not easy. The road to happiness is not a path well trotted. You have to find your own path to enlightenment."
> 
> -Jamie Campbell Bower

 

“Draco.” Blaise rolled his eyes at his blonde friend. “Draco would you please stop staring at Hermione, people will get suspicious. Honestly, you’d think you of all people would know better.” Draco, Blaise and Theo were in their sixth year at Hogwarts, specifically the sorting ceremony. Blaise was especially anxious about this year’s ceremony, as his oldest sibling was being sorted. He prayed to everything he could think of that his brother wouldn’t be in Slytherin. This house was fucked up.

Blaise bounced his leg nervously.

“Oi! Would you quit that Zabini? You’re making me nervous!” Theo chided him. Draco rolled his eyes from across the table.

“What are you rolling your eyes about over there?” Blaise sneered at him “You’re the one who can’t get the guts to actually ask out a girl we all know is totally into you!” Draco paled. Leaning over the table he hissed at the other two.

“What good would asking her out do? She’ll just be in more danger, especially now.” He gestured to his arm in disgust. Blaise and Theo nodded in understanding.

“But please note that Hermione is in over her head as it is, being friends with scarhead and all that.” Theo pointed out. Draco groaned and collapsed onto his arms. Blaise and Theo shared a knowing look. He was so screwed. Blaise nudged Theo and Draco as the ceremony started. Suddenly his anxiety was back tenfold. Theo put a hand on his shoulder in support. Blaise sent him a thankful look. They went through 13 people (4 Slytherin, 2 Hufflepuff, 5 Gryffindors and 2 Ravenclaws) before getting to Micael. Blaise practically bounced in anticipation.

“Tulio, Micael.” Mcgonagall called out.

“She pronounced it wrong.” Blaise muttered under his breath. Theo gave him a warning look. A small boy with skin the color of chocolate that matched his own, clambered on to the stool. He looked over to the Slytherin table where he caught Blaise’s eyes. Blaise nodded slightly in support, silently repeating his earlier mantra. Please don’t be in Slytherin. Please don’t be in Slytherin. The sorting hat looked contemplative before yelling out,

“Gryffindor!” Blaise noticeably relaxed as his brother made his way to the Gryffindor table with a wide grin. Theo and Draco watched him curiously.

“What was that?” Draco demanded. “Why would you be happy about him being in Gryffindor.”

“Because he’s in less danger of being dragged into this god awful mess if he’s in Gryffindor. The less people who know he’s my brother, the better. Besides,” he shrugged “I know Hermione will look after him.” Draco and Theo nodded. The three boys sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts and none of them paid any attention to Dumbledore as he listed off rules.

“We need to tell Dumbledore.” Draco suddenly spoke up.

“Tell him what?” Theo asked, Draco never had the chance to answer however, as the feast had begun and he was suddenly being mauled by a very excited Pansy Parkinson.

“Ugh! Get off Parkinson!” Draco barked, pulling Pansy off of him the way you would peel off a clingy octopus. “Sit in your own seat Pansy, before I have to hex you.” He growled at her, turning back to his food. Blaise and Theo were both having a hard time holding back laughter. Blaise wished he could tease Draco about his crush on Hermione, but unfortunately it was impossible with Pansy there. He shrugged mentally, there would be other opportunities.

Draco had had a crush on the curly haired Gryffindor since the first day the boys had seen her on the train first year. Blaise remembered with perfect clarity that first day. It was the day he had met his three best friends.

 

_Blaise was sitting in a compartment by himself, staring out the window forlornly. The compartment opened and he looked up to see a blonde boy standing in the doorway._

_“Mind if I sit here?” he asked Blaise with a slight smirk. Blaise just nodded. He still wasn’t quite used to everyone speaking english. The boy sat down across from him._

_“I’m Draco. Draco Malfoy.” He held out a hand, which Blaise took hesitantly._

_“Blaise Zabini.” he replied quietly. Blaise was exhausted, he had stayed up late with a cholicy Lucia. The compartment door opened again and a tall sandy brown haired boy ran in, slamming the door behind him before collapsing to the floor in a burst of laughter. He stood up._

_“Hey guys! Are you in first year too?” both Draco and Blaise nodded. “Great! So am I! I’m Theo by the way! Theodore Nott!” He threw himself onto the seat beside Draco. Draco frowned at him but didn’t have a chance to tell him off, as the door opened again._

_“Would you mind too much if I joined you?” a little brown haired girl asked them. The boys looked at each other and shrugged. Draco had a bit of a pink tinge to his cheeks as she sat down._

_“I’m Hermione.” She told them promptly._

_“Draco.”_

_“Theo.”_

_“Blaise.” She smiled radiantly._

_“We’re all going to be good friends! I can just feel it!”  She informed them._

_“What? Are you a seer or something?” Theo asked_

_“No. I jus-” the door opened again._

_“Sorry to intrude, but have any of you seen a toad?” A chubby brunette boy asked quietly. They all shook their heads. Hermione jumped off her seat_

_“I’ll help you look!” She followed him out into the hallway and waved to the other boys before shutting the door behind her. Blaise and Draco turned to Theo, who was finally unable to contain his laughter._

_“You had something to do with his missing toad didn’t you?” Blaise accused him with a frown. Theo nodded, still unable to speak._

_“You idiot! Now the girl I’m going to marry is gone!” Draco exclaimed, hitting his arm. Blaise and Theo looked at each other before bursting out into laughter. Draco glared at them darkly._

_“You laugh, but just you watch, I’m going to marry her.” He proclaimed. Blaise decided to change the subject as Draco’s glares were starting to get uncomfortable._

_“So what house do you think you’ll get?”_

 

“So what are we talking to Dumbledore about again?” Theo turned on Draco as soon as the door was shut behind them. Blaise set a quick locking and silencing spell on it.

“Look. I’ve thought about it from every angle. There is no way we’ll make it if when Potter defeats the dark lord, we’re stuck on the other side. No matter how much Hermione stands up for us, they’ll still consider us death eaters. Hell I’ve got the bloody friendship tattoo to prove it.” Draco said bitterly.

“Are you suggesting that we become double agents?” Blaise asked slowly.

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” Draco replied with a nod. Blaise contemplated for a moment before nodding back.

“I’m in.”

“Theo?” Both boys turned to look at Theo, who was lounging on his bed.

“Sounds like fun! When do we start?” Theo replied with a grin. The three of them looked at each other, with a mixture of excitement and worry.

“Tomorrow.”


	2. Meetings

Draco knocked on the headmaster’s door in trepidation, Blaise and Theo standing right behind him.

“Come in boys.” The headmaster called. Draco pushed the door open, not even bothering to wonder how Dumbledore knew it was them. They all stood in front of his desk.

“What can I do for you boys today?” he asked them, his eyes twinkling. Draco had a feeling that he already knew why they were there.

“We want to join the Order of the Phoenix.” Blaise stated bluntly. Dumbledore assessed the three boys.

“I see. And why is it that you would like to join the Order?” Dumbledore asked quietly.

“We want out.” Blaise answered again. The boys had decided that morning that it would be Blaise who pitched to Dumbledore, as Theo was too hot headed and Draco too emotional.  “We want a chance to decide what we want for ourselves. Without the interference of our families.” Draco watched Theo’s hands clench into fists, he knew why Theo wanted in, and it had nothing to do with wanting out, and everything to do with revenge. Draco didn’t voice this concern to Dumbledore however. It wasn’t his secret to tell.

“Is that the same for you two as well?” Dumbledore watched them closely. Draco and Theo both nodded. “Well then I suppose-”

“Sir.” Draco interrupted. “There’s something else you ought to know.” He stepped forward and pulled up his sleeve to reveal the dark mark he had been given that summer.

“Ah. I was afraid of this.” Dumbledore eyed the mark thoughtfully. “Mister Malfoy. How much does the Dark Lord trust you?”

“Enough to give me a task that is nearly impossible to complete.”

“As I suspected. This changes things.” his eyes passed over all of the boys. “For all of you.” The three boys nodded, knowing that would be the case. “You will all have to be secret members. Believe it or not, you are not the only ones in this position.” Dumbledore looked at them over the top of his glasses, his fingers steepled lightly.

“Excuse me sir.” Blaise spoke up. “I know that since we’re essentially acting as spies it’ll be hard to protect our families.” Theo sent him a glare and he quickly continued “Especially Draco’s. But can you insure the safety of my brother and sisters?” He pleaded with the headmaster. The headmaster smiled at him kindly.

“What do you suggest mister Zabini?” Blaise shuffled.

“It pains me to say this, but my mother is not capable of protecting them right now, who knows who her next husband is going to be.” he took a breath “I think it would be best if they were removed from her and her influence and taken to a safe house somewhere. I don’t want them involved in the coming war whatsoever.”

Draco knew how hard it had been for Blaise to say that. He had raised his brother and three sisters since the days they were born, and they were more his own children than his siblings. For Blaise, admitting that he needed help protecting them was like a personal blow. He put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly before letting go.

“I am sure that could be arranged mister Zabini.” he turned to the other two. “Do either of you have any requests?” Draco shook his head and watched Theo’s clasped hands.

“I’m afraid it’s too late for my family.” Theo said bitterly. Draco nodded.

“My parents are in too deep, there’s no way we could possibly get them out. Not that I think my father would agree to come anyway.” He said bitterly. Dumbledore watched the boys kindly.

“Very well boys. I just have one more question for you.” He eyed them carefully and Draco had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“How did you learn about the Order of the Phoenix?” He asked gently. the three boys looked at each other. It was Draco who spoke finally, ignoring the twisting in his gut that made him feel like he was betraying his friend. Betrayal didn’t sit well with him. Especially when she was involved.

“Hermione accidentally let it slip.”

“She didn’t mean to!” Theo and Blaise blurted out in a last attempt at saving their friend. Dumbledore smiled at them.

“You pass.” He said. The boys looked at each other in confusion.

“What?”

“You see, I discovered Miss Granger’s friendship with the three of you about a year ago. I requested that she let it slip that she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix, in hopes that you three might find a reason to act upon it.” Theo groaned.

“We were played!” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled.

“Indeed. Now if the three of you could go retrieve miss Granger from class, I believe we have some things to discuss.”

“No need professor.” Draco smirked. “She’s already here.” Theo grinned and walked over to open the door. Then lounged against the door frame.

“Well well well. What ever could you be doing here Miss Granger? Did boy wonder get you into trouble again? She scowled at Theo.

“Theo! What did you three do this time!” she exclaimed, ignoring the jab at her other friends.

“Your words wound me ma’am. We are here of our own volition!” Her eyes lit up.

“Do you mean-”

“Miss Granger. If you could join us?” Dumbledore called her forward. She blushed deeply and walked forward to stand next to Draco, whose heart sped up just a little in her presence. She was followed by Theo.

“Now. Miss Granger, you are to be the order contact for these three. Do you have any issues with that?” Hermione shook her head.

“Excellent. Now at some point, the rest of the order must be informed of your acceptance, however I think it would be best if you kept this quiet for the time being. I will leave it to your discretion on whether or not to inform mister Weasley and mister Potter.” Hermione thought for a moment before shaking her head,

“No I think it’s best if we don’t tell them just yet. Harry still has a stupid vendetta against Draco.” The three boys grinned at each other when Hermione wasn’t looking.

Their problem with Potter and Weasley was way more personal than any of them really felt up to admitting to her, as it stemmed from jealousy. Hermione was their best friend, the fourth member of their little family. It never sat well with the three boys that she was friends with the two Gryffindor boys, especially as they kept dragging her into all sorts of trouble.

Each of the boys had a different but still important connection with their Gryffindor friend. To Theo, Draco knew she was more of a sister. To Blaise she was a best friend, someone who would understand when he talked about his siblings, or the girls he fancied, Draco himself had never understood Blaise’s crazy obsession with the opposite sex. He supposed it was because he had been in love with the same girl since he was eleven, but even so, Draco still thought that Blaise was a bit strange. Draco’s relationship with Hermione skirted the edge of romantic, not that he would ever admit that out loud, though he supposed Blaise and Theo already knew anyway.

He may have claimed her as his future wife on that train when he was eleven, but he knew there was no way he could act upon his affection. Not until this stupid war was far, far behind them. If he was being completely honest with himself, he’d known that he had more than platonic feelings for Hermione since their fourth year.

_Draco gaped at his best friend in awe. She looked like some sort of angel, with her soft features, tamed curls and periwinkle dress. To him though, it was a bit surreal and he wasn’t sure he liked it. She just didn’t look like the Hermione he knew. Well, any of the Hermione’s he knew._

_She was one of those people that was always surprising you. There was the Hermione that had once punched him in the face for being a prat, the Hermione that finished her homework weeks early so she had time to help Draco, Theo and Blaise with theirs and the Hermione that wouldn’t talk to them for weeks after Draco accidentally hit her with a teeth growing spell. But then again, there was the Hermione that just sat silently and listened quietly while Draco ranted about his father. There was the Hermione who held Blaise for hours after one of his mental breakdowns, and the Hermione who patched up Theo’s hands after he punched a wall._

_So maybe it wasn’t all that weird to see her in a dress after all._

_“You look wonderful Mia.” He whispered from behind her, keeping his voice low just in case someone else was around. He hated having to hide his friendship with her. If he didn’t have to hide, it would be him waiting for her at the bottom of those stairs, instead of stupid Krum. He felt a pang of jealousy as he spoke. She turned around and flung her arms around his neck_

_“Oh thank you Draco!” She exclaimed “You look rather dashing yourself!” She grinned at him. He hugged her back_

_“Of course I do! I’m a Malfoy.” He declared. She grinned at his smirk and pulled herself out of her arms. Draco already missed her there._

_“You’re also a pretentious arse.” she wagged a finger at him. He shrugged._

_“Go on. Your date will be waiting.” He told her with a smile. Hermione groaned._

_“I wish I could actually talk to you guys in public. I would much rather go with one of you.” she whined. He smiled, secretly elated._

_“I wish you could too. I have to take stupid Parkinson.” He made a face. She laughed_

_“She can’t be that bad surely?” Blaise and Theo walked up behind them._

_“Oh Drakey Poo! Where are you!?” Theo mimed while Blaise made kissy faces. Draco shuddered._

_“Don’t even joke about that. She’s a monster, honestly.” The other three laughed. A group of students walked around the corner and Hermione quickly hugged the boys and ran off. Draco stared mournfully after her._

_“Dude. You have it bad.” Theo commented, watching him. Draco just groaned again._

 

“You may all return to classes, as I recall you should all be in Transfiguration. Please tell Professor Mcgonagall that you were meeting with me.”  All four students nodded. As soon as they were out of the headmaster’s office, Hermione turned around and pulled all of the boys into a hug.

“I missed you guys.” All three relaxed into the hug.

“We missed you too.” Blaise spoke for all of them.

“Meet me in the Room of Requirement after classes!” She said before running to get to class before it was over. The boys just looked at each other.

“What’s the room of requirement?” Theo finally spoke up.

 

 


	3. The Room of Requirement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you all know, I have a deplorable habit of writing fics out of order. So I may have 10,000 words of a fic written, but only 2,000 of it will be from the beginning of the fic. So while it may take me months to update, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm not writing anything.   
> Anyway, here's a new chapter

Apparently this was the room of requirement. Theo was impressed.

“Imagine what we could do with this place!” He laughed. Hermione smacked him

“Do not abuse this room.” She scolded lightly. He grinned impishly at her. To be honest though, Theo really had no use for the room. Draco looked around thoughtfully.

“I remember this place. This is where Potter held those extra Defense lessons last year.” Hermione nodded.

“I remember those. pity we couldn’t have taken them. That woman fucking sucked. This year is going to be hell.” Hermione rolled her eyes, but Theo knew she agreed with him. Theo however was rather indifferent. Unlike Draco, who had been trying to keep with Hermione’s inhuman grades since first year, Theo couldn’t care less about grades. A fact that frustrated Hermione to no end as she considered it ‘wasted potential.’ Of course she’d been worse after Theo accidentally let on that he could probably keep up with Draco and Hermione in classes, except he didn’t care enough about them. There was another reason for his laziness, but he wasn’t even willing to admit that to himself yet. Somehow admitting it was real, even in his head, made it seem that much scarier.

Blaise’s opinion of school was much the same as Theo’s. However, unlike Theo, he actually put some effort into his classes. At least the ones he liked. It didn’t surprise Theo in the least that the three of them were head of their year. He would never admit it to them, but he had actually scored high enough on his OWL’s the year before to put him on that list as well. Merlin, Hermione would never let him slack off in peace if she learned that factoid.

“So.” Hermione sat on the ground in front of the fireplace while the boys took the sofas. She began pulling books from her bag. No doubt getting started on homework that wasn’t due for another two weeks. Theo rolled his eyes at his adopted sister.

Anyone who didn’t know him well (which was everyone not in that room when he thought about it) would think it impossible that the fun loving slacker, Theo Nott would choose Hermione Granger, Know it all extraordinaire, as his adopted sister. But then again, who would guess that Hermione Granger, Gryffindor golden girl, would have three of the most influential Slytherins as her best friends either. Theo thought that her side might be slightly less believable.

After all, she was the Gryffindor know it all, head of their year (and Theo suspected the seventh years as well), friends with Harry bloody Potter and his ginger sidekick. Although Theo had to admit that friendship wasn’t the right word for the relationship she had with morons 1 and 2. He would never tell her, as he knew it would hurt her, but he thought that Harry and Ron’s ‘friendship’ was less of an affection for Hermione and more of an excuse to keep her and her crazy wonderful mind close to them. If there was one thing Hermione was good at, it was getting people out of trouble with her abnormally sized brain.

And she did their homework. Theo didn’t know why she bothered. She never bothered to do his homework (not that he would let her if she tried) nor did she do Blaise or- well Draco hardly needed help doing his homework. Whoever said that food was the best motivator had obviously never met a boy completely and utterly in love with a girl. Theo swore that if Hermione hinted that she’d like Draco to jump off a cliff, he would probably do it for her. And then he would Accio a broomstick and proceed to show off. Because Slytherins are nothing if not self preserving, and Draco wasn’t a fucking idiot.

“So” she repeated. “Why didn’t you guys come visit this summer?” Hermione asked, looking directly at Theo. He winced when he thought about why he hadn’t followed his usual summer routine and spent virtually the entire summer at her house in muggle london. Draco and Blaise usually spent 1 or two weeks a summer there, but Theo, Theo practically lived there.

“Trust me Mia. You don’t want to know.” He told her. She gave him a look that said that she would be talking to him about it later. He gave her one of his typical impish grins, but he was pretty sure she could see right through it. That was the problem with having a super smart sister he supposed.

“Sorry Mia, Mum’s got a new husband, and he was not very appreciative of children. There was no way I was going to leave even for a week this year.” Hermione nodded at him with a small and slightly sympathetic smile. Draco just rolled up his sleeve. Hermione gasped and stared at it in shock. Draco looked at in disgust. Theo knew Draco hated the stupid mark and he knew that Draco expected, and almost wanted, Hermione to hate him as much as he hated himself for letting himself get the mark.

Theo knew she wouldn’t though. If his sister was anything it was understanding. She knew Draco didn’t believe in Voldemort or his cause, and she knew he was being forced into a situation he had no control over. Sure enough, Hermione snapped out of her trance and threw her arms around Draco’s neck. Theo didn’t miss the flush that appeared on his friend’s cheeks as Hermione hugged him.

“Oh Draco!” She cried “I’m so sorry you had to go through with that!” Draco’s eyes widened in alarm and Theo smirked. Called it. 


	4. Names

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I'm back for one last update before finals drain what life I have left. In other news, I'm moving out of the dorms and into an actual apartment, so that's exciting.

Chapter 4

Classes became boring two weeks into the year. Blaise found himself constantly having to find things to occupy his mind in classes. Especially History of Magic. Even Draco always fell asleep in that class. Blaise and Theo started hosting exploding snap competitions between the Slytherins in the back of the room. Hermione tactfully chose to ignore these.

Blaise soon found even these competitions to be tedious however, as Theo had taken to creating new names for him every couple of days. It was starting to piss him off.

“Honestly Theo, do you not have anything better to do than make up stupid names for me?” he demanded after Transfiguration one day

“What ever do you mean Zucchini?” Draco snickered

“Nice one Nott.”

“I’m going to get Mia if you don’t stop!” Blaise complained loudly

“And what would she do about it?” Draco asked him with a raised eyebrow. Blaise threw his arms in the air and stalked off.

“I dunno but I bet you she’s nicer than you assholes!” He called over his shoulder. he seethed even more when he realized that both Draco and Theo were laughing at him. He honestly wasn’t sure why he cared so much about the stupid names, it wasn’t as if Theo was doing it maliciously. At least Blaise didn’t think he was. He tried to think of anything he might have done that would have set Theo on an angry name calling streak.

He was still wandering around aimlessly trying to think of a way to get back at Theo when he quite literally ran into a much shorter person. He stepped back and grabbed her wrist, steadying her, unfortunately he wasn’t fast enough to catch her books.

“Sorry!” He said, startled. “Here let me help!” It wasn’t until he had placed his the books back into her outstretched arms that he realized who he was talking to.       

“Lovegood.” He said, surprised.

“Oh. Hello Blaise. Thank You.”

“You know my name?”

“Of course.”

“You say that as if it were obvious. Do you know everyone’s names?” He asked her, more curious than anything else. She shook her head,

“Only the ones that the Nifflers think are important. Why don’t you tell anyone that you’re friends with Hermione.”

“What are Nifflers?” Blaise avoided her question, not sure how much information he should share with this obviously very observant, but very very crazy girl.

“They sense tragedy.”

“I thought you said they sense people who are important?” Blaise was becoming more and more confused with every passing minute. This girl was obviously smart, but certifiably insane. He was used to rational people, like Hermione and Draco, and even Theo to an extent. (He still had yet to let on that he knew how smart Theo actually was, let the boy think he could keep secrets for a little while at least.)

“They are often connected are they not?” Blaise was dragged back to reality by her voice.

“Huh?”

“The people with the most impact are the ones with the most pain don’t you think?” Blaise didn’t have a chance to answer her as his thoughts were interrupted by Theo.

“Hey Zamboni!” He shut his eyes.

“What do you want Theo?” When he opened them again, Luna was gone, almost as if she were never there at all.

“Do you have notes for Charms?” Blaise wordlessly pulled the notes from his bag and gave them to Theo. Hermione and Draco just shook their heads at him for giving in so easily.

“Thanks Blades.”

“Honestly Theo. Find someone else to make up names for!”

“What’s that Rice-O-Roni?”

“That doesn’t even start with a Z!” Hermione and Draco couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst into laughter.

“Rice-O-Roni. That’s great.” Draco said in between gasps of laughter. Blaise just glared at Theo, not the least bit amused.

“Theo. I will kill you. Don’t think I won’t.”

“Who else do you suggest he make up names for then?” Hermione cut in before wands could be drawn.

“Who don’t we like?” They all looked at one another.

“Voldemort.”

“I think you mean Moldemort.”

“Mr. Nosey.”

“Voldewart.”

“Tom Fiddlesticks.”

“Volders.”

“Baldy McVoVo.”

“Snake face.”

“Lord Moldy Shorts.”

“Gigglesnort.” By the time they reached the room of requirement, they were all hunched over with laughter, trying to not draw attention to themselves with their peals.

 

The entire incident reminded Blaise of how they’d given Hermione her nickname at the start of first year. It was an accident really, but it had stuck, and here they were.

 

_“You’re a muggleborn.” It wasn’t a question, and both Theo and Blaise could hear the disappointment in it. They wondered if she could too._

_“Yes.” it wasn’t a question either. Brown eyes met grey in a dramatic stare down that seemed to go on forever to all four kids, though in reality, it only lasted a few seconds._

_“What did you say your name is? It was something stupid.”_

_“Hermy.” Theo suggested_

_“Hermon” Blaise snickered._

_“Mia.” Draco countered the two of them, not even trying to conceal a smirk._

_“So Mia, why do you have such a stupid name?”_

_“Well. Draco. You must be the stupid one, because Hermione isn’t even that hard to pronounce. And if you must know, Hermione was the only daughter of King Menelaus of Sparta and his wife, Helen of Troy. She’s famous. Name one famous person with a name like Draco.” All three boys eyed her warily._

_“You know. For a muggleborn, you’re not so bad. See you around Mia.” Draco turned and left without another word. Blaise and Theo followed him with a wave and a wink over their shoulders._

  
  



	5. Sports

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been a bit longer than I anticipated. I was going through a rough patch this summer and my motivation to do anything was approximately zero. Luckily that's over with and you now have a update! I have about half of the next few chapters written at well, so barring any other weird mental breakdowns, those should be posted with haste as well.   
> Thanks for sticking with me guys.

Hermione had never cared for Quidditch. Or any sport for that matter. In fact, she couldn’t recall ever doing anything even remotely physical unless her life was in imminent danger. The only exception to that rule was of course when she joined in the boys’ fights. Snowball and otherwise. But she never initiated any form of exercise, which Blaise teased her relentlessly for. Hermione remembered the one summer that she’d finally given into his jabs and fought back.

  
  


_Hermione lay in the shade of the tree in her backyard, reading in shorts and a tank top, secretly attempting to tan, while the boys ran circles around her. She was well adept at ignoring them by now, and only really even noticed their presence when they called her name. Which they did too often for her tastes._

_“Come onnnnn Mia!”_

_“Fine!” She threw her arms in the air and collected her books, stomping into the house grumpily. They would pay for interrupting her reading. They. Would. Pay. She slid through the garage door to the side of the house and twisted the hose back onto the nozzle. Then, creeping back round to the backyard once again, she pulled the hose from it’s neat coil and turned it on. once she deemed the water cold enough, she waited until their backs were turned and stuck her thumb over the nozzle, spraying a stream of cold water right at the unsuspecting boys._

_They spluttered from the sudden cold for only a moment before retaliating. Hermione shrieked in laughter as she started to run, spraying them over her shoulder as she went. She was soon caught however, as all three boys were nearly a head taller than she was. Soon it was an all out war, all four of them were wet to the bone and Hermione had completely forgotten about her book._

 

Draco, Blaise and Theo were deep in discussion, dozens of different flight plans laid out around them as they argued over quidditch strategies. Hermione sighed, watching them over the edge of her Transfiguration book. She had an essay due the next week, and she just couldn’t seem to focus. She smiled slightly at her boys. They would be there for hours. Blaise tried catching her eye and waving her over to join them on the floor of the Room of Requirement. She shook her head at him and looked back at her book. Hermione was definitely not a sports person.

 

“No! Theo, you have to wait to catch the snitch until after Blaise and Greengrass have scored at least 100 points. Otherwise we won’t have a chance at the cup later on.” Draco thought that Theo might be as sports challenged as Hermione. The difference was of course, that Theo could actually fly, and he had a good eye for catching the snitch. It was a pity he didn’t give a whit about the actual game though.

“Don’t worry Draco. I’ll give him the signal when it’s time for him to catch the snitch.” Blaise calmed Draco down easily. Theo was laying on his back, tossing a fake snitch up in the air and catching it again.

“I don’t see why you can’t just play yourself, Draco.” He announced.

“It’s because of that stupid ‘mission’.”

“The one you still can’t tell us anything about?”

“That’s the one.”

“How’s that going for you?” Blaise asked

“Terribly. I have no idea how to make it look like I’m doing it, without actually doing it.” Hermione raised an eyebrow from the couch.

“Maybe we could help, if you told us what it was.” Draco turned to look at her.

“Mia. I told you already. I can’t tell you. It’s too dangerous!” Hermione just huffed and looked back at her book.

 

 

It was another two weeks before Hermione initiated another confrontation. The four of them were sitting in the Room of Requirement doing homework, per the usual, when she shut her book and stared at Draco.

“Why’d you do it?” Blaise and Theo both looked up as well.

“Do what?” Draco feigned ignorance.

“Why didn’t you turn in your Transfiguration homework. I know for a fact that you did it, because you let Theo borrow it yesterday. This is the second time you’ve failed to turn it in. I want to know why.” Draco slammed his book shut.

“Look Hermione. I know you like to know everything, but _I can’t tell you_.Okay?” Theo and Blaise both raised an eyebrow at Draco’s raised voice. He must be really stressed if he was yelling at Hermione of all people. They both knew that Draco usually went out of his way to avoid upsetting her. Hermione just looked like she’d been slapped. She quietly picked up her book, placed it in her bag, and stalked out of the room without a second glance at any of them.

“You had better fix that.” Theo threatened Draco, who was beginning to come out of his stupor.

“I haven’t seen her that upset in ages.” commented Blaise.

“Fuck.” Draco ran his fingers through his hair, then took off after Hermione.

“If he gets us caught, I’m going to be pissed.” Blaise commented.

 

Draco found Hermione in a secluded corner of the library. Her eyes were red, a sure sign she had been crying. He sighed, the dynamic duo inadvertently killed her self confidence on a regular basis. And now here he was doing the same thing. He knew how much even the littlest comments about her studying habits and her slightly overbearing personality hurt her.

“Hermione.” She continued to read, blatantly ignoring him. “Mia.” When she still didn’t look at him, Draco took a deep breath as if he were about to yell.

“Don’t even think about it Malfoy.” He grinned at her. One day she would learn the ruse, but it had worked this time. He let the smile slide off his face

“I’m sorry Mia.” He said. Her head snapped up and she just watched him. He sighed “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I didn’t mean it and I know you’re only trying to help.” She nodded her acceptance and gestured to the seat next to her.

“That would have taken Harry and Ron three weeks and a life or death situation.” She commented. He smirked.

“That’s because Potter and Weasley are morons.” she smacked his arm, but smiled at him anyway. 


	6. Young Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I've been super busy between work and classes so I really haven't had much time to write at all.  
> Anyway, Enjoy!

Blaise was beginning to think that she was following him. Or perhaps he saw her this regularly and was just now beginning to notice? Either way, he was finding himself incapable of avoiding a certain Luna Lovegood, and even scarier, he found himself not actually caring to. He wasn’t sure what it was about the younger girl that he found so alluring. There were plenty of girls in hogwarts with waist length blonde hair and icy blue eyes. And none of them wore vegetables as earrings. Yet every time Blaise laid eyes on the small girl, he found himself  unable to look away. He knew it was becoming a real problem when he got so distracted that he nearly ran into Theo in the corridor.

For weeks he had been blowing off his newfound attraction as a trick of the light, or stress, or the fact that he still wasn’t sure quite how she had discovered their friendship with Hermione. But as the days wore on he was forced to admit that he was becoming hopelessly enamored with the crazy ravenclaw.

When he looked back on it however, he realized that it really wasn’t the first time he had seen her in a different light, or even fancied her for that matter.

_Blaise turned the corner to the dungeons and noticed Crabbe and Goyle gathered around what looked like a small Ravenclaw. He was about to call them off, knowing that if he didn’t, Hermione would somehow find out and it would get back to him, when he noticed that she seemed to be doing fine on her own. In fact, the older boys weren’t even touching her, just staring at her stupidly while she just talked away. Blaise edged closer, careful to stay out of sight._

_“Oh dear, it seems your heads are full of Wackspurts, you should really get that checked out, they impair your thinking you know.”_

_“Wacksurts aren’t real stupid!” Crabbe retorted with a laugh_

_“Wackspurts.” the girl corrected primly. Blaise was now close enough to recognize her as Looney Lovegood, the laughingstock of Ravenclaw. From what he could gather, the majority of her housemates couldn’t figure out why she was in their house at all and had taken to calling her names and stealing her things._

_As Blaise watched her interact with his dense housemates however, he thought she might be a lot smarter than she let on outwardly. She led them in circles with her words without even batting an eye. Even Blaise was having a hard time keeping up with her rambling, and he considered him to be at least as smart as the average Ravenclaw, if not smarter. He was, after all, best friends with the two smartest people in their year._

 

“Blaise? Can I talk to you?” Hermione asked him, shuffling nervously. He nodded at her to sit down.

“Why are you wanting to talk to me?” he asked her, usually if she wanted to talk about something important, she went to Draco or Theo.

“It’s about Draco.” Ah. That explained it. She obviously couldn’t talk to Draco about it, and Theo tended to get incredibly overprotective of Hermione, and his hotheadedness tended to interfere where Her relationships were involved.

“What’s he done now?” Blaise asked, putting his book aside.

“I think I might like him.” She blurted out.

“Well I should hope you like him since you’ve been friends for five years.” He stated dryly. She scowled at him.

“You know what I mean.” She fidgeted nervously. “What should I do? I mean I don’t want to mess up our friendship.”

“Hermione, I am going to tell you something, if you repeat it to anyone I will kill you myself.” She nodded.

“Draco has had a crush on you since first year. But he’s an idiot and thinks that if he asks you out, he’ll be putting you in even more danger.”

“But that’s ridiculous! I’m-” Blaise held up a hand.

“You have to understand Hermione. Draco has control over very little in his life. He’s forced to join a cause he doesn’t believe in, take a mark he never wanted and fight in a war that has very little to do with him at all. Draco has very few people he cares about, and even fewer that he’s capable of protecting. Can you blame him for wanting to keep you safe? He’s doing the only thing he knows how to do.” Hermione nodded slowly.

“I just wish he’d talk to me about it.” She muttered, resting her head on Blaise’s shoulder. Blaise smirked down at her.

“This is Draco we’re talking about. He doesn’t talk about things.”  She sighed

“I know. But do you know how frustrating that is? I mean here I am, afraid he’s avoiding me because he’s mad at him for something, and instead I find he’s harboring a secret crush on me.” Blaise shook his head

“Yeah not so much on the secret thing. Honestly, the only one who didn’t notice was you.” She groaned and flopped backwards onto his bed.

“Now I feel stupid. Thanks Blaise.” He shrugged and she rolled over to bury her face in his pillow.


	7. Family Matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to post this. I wasn't happy with what I wrote for it months ago, and I didn't want to post it until I was at least somewhat happy with it, especially since it's such an important chapter, plot wise.

 

"It's obvious who the winner is. Me." The three boys were sitting in a circle on Draco’s bed, which they had enlarged to fit them all.  
"Theo, you don't count! We had to tell you their names the first three times." Blaise threw a handful of Bertie Botts at Theo’s head. 

"Whatever, Zucchini. We still know who you would say," Theo mocked, dodging the airborne beans.   
"Yeah? Who?" Blaise raised an eyebrow in challenge to the dark haired prat.  
"That blonde nutter in Ravenclaw." Theo watched his friend in interest. Yup. There was definitely something going on between Blaise and the Lovegood girl. Suddenly Blaise grinned. 

“I know who Draco would say though!” Theo caught on

“Please Blaise, we all know that Draco thinks Susan Bones is the hottest girl in the school.” Draco looked offended

“Bones? She’s a Hufflepuff!”

“Hot though.” Draco and Blaise snorted at Theo’s statement.

“Pft. How would you know Theo?”

“Hey. I can appreciate a girl’s aesthetic. Doesn’t mean I have to bang her.” The boys rolled their eyes in sync. Blaise spoke after a moment.

“Now Brown. That’s a nice bird.” Both Theo and Draco burst into laughter. Blaise pretended to look offended.

“Fine. Who  _ would  _ you pick Drake?” Draco shrugged and all three boys knew what a loaded question it was. Would Draco finally admit to them, and himself, that he was kind of in love with their best friend?

“You guys know perfectly well who I’d choose.” He told them. Both boys let out a breath. So he was finally admitting it. 

“Oh no. You don’t get out of it that easy. Say it outloud Draco.” Theo teased him.Draco sighed and muttered under his breath.

“I like Hermione.”

“Louder!” The boys prompted, throwing their bertie botts at him.

“Ow! Fine! I like Hermione Granger!” He almost yelled, holding his arms above his head to protect himself from the flying candy. The boys laughed. 

Theo sighed to himself. Why couldn’t it be like this all the time? Why did there have to be a stupid war to get in the way of their happiness? Why couldn’t they just love who they wanted, and be friends with the people who really cared. Why did they have to deal with all of this political bullshit?

“Will you ever ask her out?” Blaise asked

“I dunno. Maybe. After this is all over.” Theo frowned

“Why wait until after it’s a possibility that we’ll all be dead before you ask her out? You’re just making you both miserable by waiting.”

“I don’t want her to be hurt. If I get caught and  _ he _ gets past my mind blocks…”

“Oh because he’s not going to figure out she’s important to you from all of the years of you flirting and pining after her? Get real Draco.” Blaise snorted at him.

“Really you’re actually making it worse for you both because if you never ask her out, you’ll never know how she really feels about you and it’ll eat you up.”Theo commented, his voice growing hard with warning. Draco growled at him

“Drop it Theo. I’m not asking her out. It’s too big a risk.”

“Then how are you going to be there to watch her back Draco? What if Weasley grows a pair and asks her first?”

“I can watch her back as her friend. It’s what we’ve been doing for years isn’t it?”

“It’s not the sa-”

“Yes, Theo. It is.” Theo finally snapped.

“You don’t get it! I can’t lose another sister. I just can’t! So get of your fucking high horse Draco! You need to focus on keeping each her safe because let’s face it, we’re the only ones who are ever going to care about us.” The boys stared at Theo after his outburst. 

“What do you mean? Another sister?” Theo’s face turned an ashy sort of grey and he looked as if he were going to throw up. He had fucked up. He had fucked up bad. No one was supposed to know about Carol. That was his burden to bear, and his alone. One look at his friends though and he knew that he wasn’t getting out of this one. They had the same look in their eyes that his sister had held so often. It was the same look she’d had in her eyes when she’d run out of the house that warm summer night. The night she’d never come back.

 

_ Theo watched through the crack in the wardrobe door as his father screamed at his sister. Theo didn’t understand why his father was yelling. Carol had shown her results when she got home. She had all O’s and one E. She was a genius. Theo had told her so and she had only laughed and ruffled his hair.  _

_ “You’ll be a genius too kid. Just watch. When you get to Hogwarts you and me are going to be the top NEWTs on that board. They’ll call us the Genius twins or something!” Theo didn’t understand why they would call he and his sister twins since she was six years older than him. Not even close to being twins at all. But he smiled at her anyway.  _

_ Theo wondered why his dad was so angry, since Carol was a genius. He should be happy right? They should be celebrating. Carol was home from school for a whole summer and she could play with him and they could go exploring in the manor and play hide and seek with the house elves just like they used to. So why was his dad mad? _

_ “Ungrateful wretch! don’t you dare backtalk me! I bet you did it on purpose! I bet you chose to be a fucking puff. You’re just as stupid as your mother. Ungrateful bitch. I bet you chose to disgrace your family like this!” Theo could hear his sister’s cries and wanted desperately to run from his hiding place in the wardrobe and protect her from the evil in the world. But he was only six and he was so afraid and his dad was so much bigger and scarier than him and he didn’t understand why his daddy didn’t love him and Carol like he used to. _

_ He heard the resounding slap of a hand hitting a cheek and Theo winced again.  _

_ He learned that day that there are some things in life that just aren’t fair. _

 

Theo pulled himself out of his reverie and stared back at his friends. How did you tell your friends a secret that you tried to forget yourself? Instead, he turned around, climbed into his bed and closed the curtains around his bed. 

He was woken several hours later by Blaise.

“Go Away Blaise. I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“While we do want to know what all this is about a sister. This isn’t about you. Draco got another letter.” Theo pulled himself out of his bed and sat on the end to listen to Draco read his letter. 

> Dear Draco, 
> 
> I just thought you should know that your uncle Tom will be coming to visit for an indeterminate amount of time. He has been asking about you, and would like to see you again. He would also like to know how the little side project you told him about is coming along. Write back soon.
> 
> Love, 
> 
> Mother

 

The boys looked at one another in apprehension. 

“Well Fuck.” Blaise summarized their thoughts. 


	8. Girl Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's done with finals! I also have the next four or five chapters finished, so I'll probably post those pretty regularly. (Read: whenever I remember)
> 
> All comments, theories, criticism, and nonsense are always encouraged and appreciated.  
> Cheerio!

Hermione was sorting through her note cards in the hallway, when she felt two strong arms wrap around her and drag her into an empty classroom. The only reason she didn’t scream, was the sudden smell of cinnamon that assaulted her nose upon contact.

Blaise slammed the door shut and whirled around to face his friend. 

“I need help.” She just nodded and sat on one of the desks that riddled the empty classroom, storing her note cards in her bag as she went. 

“What can I do for you.” She swung her legs back and forth, patiently waiting for him to talk. He began to pace.

“I don’t know what to do! I mean nothing like this has ever happened before. I’ve never felt like this about anyone. I mean sure I fancy girls all the time, then I flirt with them and move on. But she’s different. She’s well, she’s unbelievable. In every sense of the word. She’s super smart and Merlin! is she beautiful. But she’s completely off her rocker! I talk to her and I come out of the conversation feeling like she’s turned my head to oatmeal!” Hermione grinned

“You like Luna!” Blaise rubbed a hand across his face. 

“Is it that obvious?” he asked quietly. Hermione studied him thoughtfully

“You really do like her don’t you? I’ve never heard you talk that much about any other girl well... ever.” He nodded slowly.

“You know, I really, really do. I’ve just- I’ve never seen someone with so much life before. She’s so innocent, but so wise at the same time. She just baffles me Mia. And the more I try to understand about her, the faster I fall into the little world she’s created.” Hermione laughed 

“So how do you plan on winning her over?” He threw his hands in the air

“I don’t know! She’s so fucking confusing, I don’t even know which way is up with her, let alone how to get her to like me!” Hermione’s forehead creased in thought. 

“You know Blaise, she may like you already.” He groaned

“Don’t get my hopes up Mia. I’m ruined as it is!”

“No seriously, every time someone so much as mentions the Slytherins, she looks around as if she’s looking for someone. And I’ve seen her staring in your direction at meals. I always assumed she was staring off into space- she does that often you know- but it would make more sense if she was staring at you.” Blaise couldn’t stop the spark of hope that lit up his eyes as she looked at his best friend. 

“You really think so?” Hermione nodded. 

“Absolutely. Luna’s not stupid, in fact, I’m fairly certain that if anyone were to discover our secret prematurely, it would probably be Luna. She’s not the most sane person in the world, but she’s observant.”

“She already does.” Blaise said, surprised that he had forgotten that fact so completely in light of his all consuming crush. Hermione, for her part, didn’t look the least bit surprised.

“See? Told you she was observant.” Hermione smiled at him “Blaise, just ask her out. She’s already keeping the biggest secret you have, what’s the worst that could happen?” BLaise scowled. He hated when people said that, it was like begging for the worst to happen.

“She could laugh in my face?” Hermione snorted. 

“Blaise, have you ever seen Luna laugh at anyone? Se doesn’t even laugh at people she doesn’t like. Trust me Blaise, Luna is one of the very few people I trust to have our backs.” Blaise thought back to the year before, when they had followed Hermione to the Ministry of Magic in an effort to help keep her safe. (Draco’s idea of course.)

 

_ Hermione was at it again.  _

_ “Why can’t she just stay out of trouble. I was just hexed by the Weaslette. The Weaslette!” Draco grumbled to them as they followed her to the forbidden forest. “Stupid Potter.” _

_ “Draco, they’re going to hear us if you don’t stop talking.” Theo muttered to the other boy. Draco just glared at him in the halflight. They hit a roadblock when they reached the other groups destination.  _

_ “Oh hell no.” Theo muttered.  _

_ “What are they doing?” Blaise whispered, trying to see them through the thick bushes they were hiding behind.  _

_ “Thestrals. That’s how they’re getting to the ministry.” Theo replied.  _

_ “Are they crazy? Only half of them can even see the beasts!” Draco replied, alarmed on behalf of Hermione, who while not necessarily afraid of heights, didn’t really like them. The boys thought she might take issue with riding an invisible skeletal horse. They were right, and it was only after some soothing words from Luna that she agreed. As soon as they were off, Theo ran forward and claimed one of the leftover Thestrals, climbing onto its back with ease. Blaise and Draco just stared at him.  _

_ “Okay, that's weird.” Blaise commented nervously. Theo reluctantly climbed off the creature and helped his friends onto their own Thestrals, grateful that they at least had horseback training. It was then that they realized that they had no idea how to make them go. _

_ “Um. Follow the others?” Theo tried. Draco let out a loud yelp as the thestrals took off. He grinned a little and patted his Thestral’s head. He could get used to this.  _

 

_ They made it into the Ministry in time to follow the Death Eaters into the Department of Mysteries. Draco and Theo looked a bit sick and Blaise certainly felt it. What were they doing here? What could they possibly want, and how in the hell were they supposed to keep Hermione safe, without being seen? There wasn’t a doubt in Blaise’s mind, that Draco and Theo’s fathers were both a part of the group that was making it’s way through the corridors.  _

_ Why oh why did she have to be friends with Potter and Weasley? _

_ Their was a shout and Blaise had to duck as a flying curse came straight towards them. The three exchanged a nod and they all ran in separate directions. Blaise stuck to the shadows, and thanked every higher power he could think of, for his dark skin. He somehow ended up following Lovegood and the Weasley girl around, casting shield charms whenever he thought they might need one. He thought he might have seen Luna wink at him, but he wasn’t sure.  _

_ He had attributed the fluttering of his heart to adrenaline. _

  
“Alright. But I’m blaming you if this all blows up in our faces.”


	9. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is starting to pick up now duh duh duh!

Draco knew that he needed help. He had officially run out of ideas and what Theo had said the week before had resonated with him. Theo was right, they did only have each other, and maybe he couldn’t tell them the mission, but they were the smartest people he knew, and the only people in the world that he trusted unconditionally. Including his parents. Not to mention, he couldn’t stand that disappointed look Hermione gave him every time he told her that he couldn’t tell her what his mission was.

The four of them were once again in the Room of Requirement, working on homework- or not working on homework, in Theo’s case.

“I have to have something delivered to the school.” Draco chose his words carefully. “I have a contact in Hogsmeade, but I have to at least  _ try  _ to get this dangerous object through the Hogwarts security.” Hermione closed her book and looked up at him, suddenly all business. 

“How big is the object?” 

“Pretty small?”

“So we could just slip it into someone’s pocket?”

“Not that small. And I don’t want to risk someone accidentally touching it and hurting themselves.”

“Could one of us take it?”

“Not believable. They watch us Slytherins more closely than anyone else, and it wouldn’t make sense for me to try to get it up to the school with someone as high profile as you.”

“Hmmm.”

“What if you were to imperious someone? It’s close enough to Christmas that you could just say it’s a gift.” Theo asked

“Theo! That’s Illegal!” Hermione was aghast Theo rolled his eyes.

“The Dark Lord won’t care. And I bet Old Dumbles will either, if you warn him beforehand.”

“Could work.” Blaise commented. “You need an alibi though.”

“I’ve got that one covered. I’m going to be in detention.”

“So who is actually going to be in detention?” Blaise asked with a small laugh. Draco smirked

“Crabbe.”

“Draco! That’s so mean!” He just shrugged and turned to Theo.

“I did my part Theo. Your turn.” Theo sighed and looked like he was about ten years older.

“Fine, but you can’t interrupt me.” He looked at Hermione when he said that, and made it very clear that he was talking directly to her.

He took a breath. “It all started when my mum died. I was maybe a year old, she was in muggle London and was hit by a car. Not her fault, or the muggles really since she was disillusioned at the time. But dad didn't see it that way. It was then that he joined the dark lord.” He took another deep breath 

“C-Carol was my best friend. She was so pretty and smart and- she was my hero. She was only seven when mum died and she was already a genius. She read more than you Mia. She was supposed to be the pride of the family, dad was going to give her to the dark lord. Luckily he never had the chance.” Theo’s face darkened. 

“He just got worse after Voldemort disappeared, he got angry and violent and it only got worse after Carol went to school. I didn’t realize until later how much he hurt her but- it was bad. It  was really bad. He didn’t like that she wasn’t top of her class, even though she was second. And he really didn’t like that she was a Hufflepuff.” Hermione rubbed tiny circles on his back as he choked out his story. 

“She would protect me you know. She was always protecting me from him, even when I didn’t know it. Half of the time, she would mess up on purpose, just so he would notice me less. And I just- I did nothing! I let him hurt her and-” He couldn’t finish and none of them asked him to. “I begged to be placed in Slytherin. Begged and begged and begged the sorting hat, anything but Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. I couldn’t go through the same thing she did. I couldn’t-”

“Her last year would have been our first. You would have loved her Hermione, you two were so much alike.”

“What happened to her?” Blaise ventured to ask. 

“She tried to run away. She said she couldn’t take it anymore and she tried to run. She wanted to take me, but I would only have dragged her down, we both knew it. Dad caught her before she had even got to London. He dragged her home and his her and he- j-j-just w-wouldn’t s-s-stop.He tried to find me but I locked myself in the cupboard and didn’t come out for days. I hid in my room and had the house elves bring me food until it was time to go to Hogwarts. They apparated me to Diagon Alley for supplies, and I found all of Carol’s old books. I tried not to go home after that.” 

Hermione bit her lip, then asked the question they all really wanted answered. “So what changed this summer?” Theo may have been heartbroken and hurt through their entire school careers, but he had started showing it this year, and Hermione wanted to know why. Theo opened his mouth as if to answer, but closed it again and shook his head. Hermione was a bit alarmed when he stood up and started unbuttoning his shirt. 

“Theo what-” Hermione let out a gasp of pity when he turned around. Theo’s back was crisscrossed with dozens of scars, some healed more than others.

“Oh Theo!” Hermione threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly, as if a hug could take away all of the pain he was feeling.  He hugged her back, then shrugged his shirt back over his shoulders. 

“He wouldn’t let me leave this year. I tried and tried and tried. I even considered running away. But…” His voice trailed off and they all knew why he couldn’t run away.

 

“Well.” Blaise cut through the silence that followed Theo’s confession. “Since we’re sharing secrets, I’m totally going to be asking out Lovegood.” Theo’s eyes lit up

“I knew it! I knew you were into her!”

“Wait. Since when have you liked Lovegood?” Draco’s eyes ping ponged between Blaise and Theo.

“Third year.” Theo answered before Blaise could even open his mouth. 

“Seriously?” Draco raised an eyebrow at Blaise, who was growing more and more uncomfortable with the conversation.

“No!” Theo and Hermione both sent him disbelieving looks and Blaise withered under their gaze. “It was fourth year.” Draco just laughed. 

“Wait. So am I the only one who doesn’t have a huge secret?” Hermione looked around at the boys. 

“Hermione, you don’t have  _ any _ secrets.” Blaise teased her.

“That’s not true!” She crossed her arms grumpily.  The boys all gave her amused looks.

“Well maybe it shouldn’t be true! We should be able to tell each other everything! Promise. From now on, as long as it doesn’t put any of us in immediate danger, we know everything.” The boys nodded and Hermione held out her pinky. It may have been stupid and childish, but it was the most powerful swear she knew of.

They would need some sort of power on their side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have some sketches and doodles of the characters on my art blog if anyone is interested. (nerdzewordart.tumblr.com)   
> As always, comments and concerns are always appreciated.


	10. Shit Gets Real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bit shorter than the rest of the chapters, but I figured that you guys have waited long enough.

Blaise tried not to think about all of the different ways that Draco’s plan could go wrong. He tried not to think about the huge weight he could feel settling in his chest, warning him that things were changing again. 

He never told Draco or Theo about the feelings he got. The ones where his heart felt like it was constricting in his chest and he lost the ability to breathe. He knew they would only assume that they were another symptom of the anxiety. But they were  _ more  _ than that. Every single big event in his life was pre cursed with this same feeling in his chest. 

The first time was when his dad had died. Blaise had thought that he was dying when the feeling had started while he was playing in the nursery. When they finally told him what happened, he only wished he were dying. The second time was right before his mother announced she was getting remarried, only three months later. The third was when his mother announced that she was going to be having a baby. It was a routine of sorts now. He had started to make a sort of game of it; would it be another sibling? Or another dead stepfather? 

This one was different. This feeling was less like his heart was being crushed, and more like he was being stabbed repeatedly. The only other time he had felt this type was over the summer, when he had woken up in the middle of the night to find his current stepfather hitting his baby sister, while his other sisters could only watch on in horror. It had been a relief when the familiar pang of death came just before he was due to go back to Hogwarts. 

Blaise was on edge for the entire day, as he and Theo trudged their way through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade. Even so, he was still caught off guard when the flash of red light came speeding towards them. Blaise shoved Theo to the ground and they crawled behind a snowbank. 

“What the actual fuck.” Theo growled. More than a little annoyed. He had his wand in his hand and looked ready to kill. “They still there?” 

Blaise had clutched his wand tighter and glanced over the top of the snowbank. He had to duck again as another spell came speeding towards them. The snowbank would not provide much cover for long. 

“Yup.”

“On three?”

“Three!” They both stood up and sent spells in the direction of their attacker, before running in the direction of the nearest shop. Theo cried out behind him and Blaise was filled with horror when he turned to watch his best friend crumble to the ground. He sent a string of furious spells back at the attacker before grabbing Theo and hauling him back towards the Three Broomsticks. He just prayed that one of his spells had hit it’s mark. It would suck to get hit in the back with a spell while he was half carrying Theo.

 

Hermione was worried. Blaise had been acting edgy all day, and she had a feeling it was from more than just nerves for Draco’s plan. Unfortunately, she couldn’t even ask him about it because of all of the people that lined the streets of Hogsmeade, doing their holiday shopping. So  she contented herself with hanging out with her other boys. She felt a little bad for ignoring them the past few weeks, but it seemed like every time they spoke, she and Ron got into a fight, and Harry just  _ stood  _ there, sending her sympathetic looks but refusing to actually say anything. It was frustrating, and hanging out with the Slytherin boys was just  _ easier.  _

They were walking back towards the castle, her mind occupied with thoughts of Draco when Hermione noticed Katie Bell and her friend Leanne walking just a little ways ahead of them. They looked like they were arguing about something, and she was about to call out to them when Katie started to rise into the air. Hermione could only watch in horror as she floated above Leanne’s head, hair buffeting around her face wildly. She thought that Katie almost didn’t even look human anymore. Then she began to scream, terrible, heartbreaking screams of anguish. 

It wasn’t until after she had dropped to the ground again that Hermione noticed the package. She thought she might be sick. This was not the plan, this was not the plan at all. Suddenly the implications of what Draco had to have been asked to do overwhelmed her. No one should have to be forced to hurt people, and she hated that there was nothing she could do to help him. 

There was a tap on her shoulder and she turned to see a little first year who just whimpered out a few words. Hermione had heard enough though, and she shot off towards the Three Broomsticks, a horrible gnawing feeling in her belly. She heard Harry and Ron yelling after her, but she ignored them and kept running. They, to her infinite relief, opted not to follow her.

She just hoped the feeling of dread that was building in her was unfounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this fic is so sporadic, it's been a weird summer for me. I just recently had to move out of my apartment (dunno if you guys have heard of the San Francisco housing crisis, but it's insane and horrible), so I'm currently crashing on a friend's couch until I can go back to CO. Plus I'm taking summer classes because I am so very very done with school. 
> 
> Little known fact: take classes in the summer guys, you graduate faster and you can get all of those silly filler classes out of the way. I just wouldn't suggest doing it while you're kinda homeless.


	11. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promised I'd have the next chapter up this week, so here it is!
> 
> I should (in theory) be posting more frequently because I've had the next few chapters written for the last year or so, but they require a lot of editing so we'll see how it goes.
> 
> Enjoy!

The door of The Three Broomsticks slammed open and Blaise came stumbling in, with Theo’s arm wrapped around his neck

“What happened!” Draco said, standing up Blaise set Theo down as carefully as he could 

“I don’t know! One minute we’re fine, the next minute someone is firing curses at us! In the middle of Hogsmeade!” Blaise sounded outraged at first, but the longer he talked, the more shaken he sounded. Draco knew he should keep in character, but his two best friends had just been attacked so he leaned over and checked Theo’s pulse. He let out a relieved sigh when he found one. Then he looked up at Blaise. A sense of dread filled him when he saw the other boy’s eyes glaze over, and all thought of keeping his cover as thick sculled Crabbe fled his mind.

“Blaise!” he called out, hoping to snap the boy out of it. But it was no use, there was no helping him when he was in this state. The only one who even had a chance of getting through to him was Hermione. That was it. He pointed at a random boy in the crowd.

“You there. Find Hermione Granger.” the boy looked terrified. “Get her now!” Draco almost yelled. Then he flinched at the boy’s expression of terror.  He had forgotten he still looked like Crabbe. The boy scurried off. He turned to find Madame Rosemerta.

“Could we get a room? I can pay.” 

“No need dear. Come along then.” She levitated Theo while Draco pulled a dazed Blaise along by the arm. Draco tried to hold himself together but was failing very quickly. One of his best friends was unconscious, hit with who knows what sort of hex, and the other was in complete shutdown from a panic attack that only Hermione could get him out of. Not to mention that by calling for Hermione like that, he had probably blown his cover. 

He sat Blaise down in one of the chairs that Madame Rosemerta conjured in the back of the room, after setting Theo gently down on the bed. Draco then flopped into the other one, his head in his hands. 

That was where Hermione found him when she ran into the room ten minutes later, panting and out of breath. She saw Draco and Blaise sitting there and pieced together what happened. Hermione knelt on the floor in front of Draco.

“Draco. Madame Rosemerta told me what happened. she said what hit Theo was just a stunner. He’s going to be fine.” Draco just shook his head. Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and held him for a long while. Draco wanted so badly to hold her back, to wrap her in his arms and not let go. But he forced his arms to remain as they were, and his heart to keep it’s relatively steady pace. He didn’t have time to be in love with his best friend right now.

“I have to help Blaise.” she told him when she finally pulled away. Draco just nodded, knowing that his friend was more important, but wishing she could hold him just a little bit longer. Hermione scooted Blaise over a bit and slipped in to sit beside him in the chair. 

“Blaise.” she called to him, rubbing his back softly. “Blaise. It’s not your fault. No one blames you, in fact you were probably the reason Theo’s okay at all.” Blaise took a shuddering breath, and Draco started to see a bit of his usual spark return to his eyes. Hermione continued to rub his back, and whisper to him. Draco felt a pang of jealousy at their closeness, despite knowing that they were nothing more than friends. He got up and walked over to the bed where Madame Rosemerta had placed Theo. 

“Enervate.” He pointed his wand at his friend. Theo awoke with a gasp. Blaise’s head shot up. and seeing Theo awake, promptly started to cry. He sobbed into Hermione’s shoulder without restraint. Theo and Draco watched on in silence. 

After a long while, Draco took another swig of the nasty polyjuice that had long since worn off, and tracked down Madame Rosmerta to send an owl to Dumbledore, explaining what happened and that they would return to the castle in the morning. He returned to the room and noted that Blaise had stopped crying, but he was still leaning on Hermione. 

“We’re staying here tonight.” He announced, climbing onto the bed beside Theo. Blaise nodded to him in thanks and stood up. 

“Well this has been fun!” Theo said, clapping his heads together and bouncing on the bed. “Who’s up for a game of exploding snap?” Draco smirked as Blaise and Hermione joined them on the bed. 

“You’re going down Nott.” Draco announced

“In your dreams Malfoy!” Theo replied. Both of them sported wicked grins. Hermione laughed and even Blaise cracked a smile. Draco looked around at his little family. They may be kind of fucked up, but they were his and they were family, and that was honestly all he could ask for. 


	12. Sleepovers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Have another chapter to celebrate the new book! I read it and loved it, feel free to talk to me about it either here, or on my blog (nerdzewordart.tumblr.com) I am always willing to talk about Harry Potter.  
> Moving on!  
> None of the characters are mine (well, maybe a couple, but I always forget this part anyway so oops.) Enjoy!

_ Hermione carefully laid out blankets on the living room floor. It was the first time her best friends would be spending the night, and everything had to be perfect. Sure, she knew they were boys and it wouldn’t really matter to them much if the blankets weren’t perfect, but she felt like it was her duty to make sure they had the ‘best time ever’ while they were in the muggle world. Hermione wanted so bad for them to have fun.  She was almost done when the boys came barrelling into the room, followed by her rather perturbed mother.  _

_ Elizabeth, or as Theo liked to call her, Mrs.G, had been rather alarmed when she had discovered that none of the boys had ever used a toothbrush before since they had grown up in magical homes. She had then made it a priority to take them upstairs where she could show them each how to use one of the dozens of spare toothbrushes they always had lying around the house.  _

_ The boys had been fascinated, and wanted to know everything there was to know about dentistry, and then the electric toothbrush and how it worked, and then they wanted to know about the microwave, and the coffee maker and the television, and the telephone. They were especially interested in the telephone. Needless to say, Elizabeth was a bit overwhelmed.  _

_ “Hermione dear, are you going to be sleeping down here with the boys?” Hermione perked up. She hadn’t had any friends before, but in the movies, the girls and the boys were always supposed to sleep separately. _

_ “I can?” _

_ “Of course! Just don’t stay up too late alright?” Hermione just nodded eagerly and settled down beside the boys to sleep. She fell asleep listening to Draco and Blaise mutter insults to each other as they kicked one another in the shins, and to Theo’s light snores as he held her hand. Hermione thought that might be a perfect moment.  _

 

When Hermione woke up, her arms were wrapped around Draco’s middle and her face buried in his chest. She could feel Theo on her other side and knew that Blaise was on the other side of him. She had never felt so content in her entire life. She snuggled closer to Draco and sleepily wondered how long it would take before he would admit his feelings for her. Hermione knew she would wait forever if she had to. She smiled as she drifted back off to sleep.

When Blaise woke up, all he could feel was a deep sense of dread. He had never cried like that before. And especially not in front of his friends. Would they look at him differently? He was knocked out of his thoughts when Theo jabbed him in the ribs. 

“Ow!” he scowled at his friend. 

“Shhhh! Look!” Theo whispered Blaise looked over the top of him and grinned when he saw Hermione curled up against Draco’s chest. He and Theo exchanged a look, and Blaise slipped out of the bed. He tiptoed over and dug around in Hermione’s bag for the camera she always had stashed in there. Finding it, he crept to the end of the bed and snapped a picture. Draco had a wand pointed at his throat before he had even moved it from his face. 

Theo started to cackle loudly and Blaise smirked evilly. 

“I am definitely keeping this for blackmail.” he stated. Hermione frowned at him. 

“Was it really necessary to wake us up?” She looked pointedly at Theo. Theo ignored her and continued to snigger. 

“Mia. you might want to find yourself a brush. Your hair looks like it could eat something!” Hermione’s eyes widened in shock and she stared in horror at the mirror on the back of the door behind Blaise. 

“You took a picture of me like that?” Draco recovered from his shock and looked over at her. 

“It’s not that bad Mia. It’s just a bit bigger than usual.” 

“Try a lot.” Theo laughed again. Hermione growled and shoved him off the bed. “Hey! You will pay for that woman!” Hermione shrieked as he jumped back onto the bed and started to attack her with a pillow. Soon it had escalated into an all out pillow fight that included Blaise and Draco. 

An hour later they were all sprawled out on the bed laughing. 

“I love you guys.” Hermione breathed. 

“We love you too.” Blaise replied.

“Well, Draco does at least.” Theo commented. Blaise laughed as Draco’s face turned as red as Weasley’s hair. Hermione only smiled and took his hand. 

 

When they returned to the castle, they headed straight to the headmaster’s office, knowing he would want to talk to them. Dumbledore called them in, and they entered Theo and Draco pushing each other around as they entered the door. They all stopped as they saw the headmaster wasn’t alone. Standing in front of his desk, looking furious, was Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. 

All three boys dropped their smiles and replaced them with sneers. Draco stepped in front of Hermione in an unconscious effort at keeping her safe. 

“There you are! Mister Potter and Mister Weasley here were asking after you Miss Granger. See, no harm has befallen her, boys. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some matters to discuss with our new arrivals.” Harry exploded

“You’re fine with them dragging her from her friends and not letting her come back all night! What if they had hurt her! I told you Professor! Malfoy is a death eater!” Harry yelled, gesturing wildly. Hermione had slowly been building up over the course of his speech, but his last comment about Draco sent her over the edge. The three boys looked at each other and quickly stepped out of the way. Hermione was known to throw things in her wrath. 

“Don’t you dare assume I was held anywhere against my will Harry Potter!” She yelled at him. All three boys had to smother grins. Theo didn’t succeed, and ended up having to just cover his mouth with his hand. Draco was still furious at Potter however. It wasn’t his fault he had the stupid dark mark, it wasn’t his fault he was a pureblood and it certainly wasn’t his fault Blaise and Theo had been attacked. Dumbledore just smiled pleasantly.

“Well then, I suppose we should move this along. Mister Weasley and Mister Potter, if you could wait in the hallway for a moment while I speak to these four, it would be most appreciated.” the three boys sneered at them as they walked past. Hermione just looked stony. Dumbledore started to talk as soon as the door had shut behind the two boys. 

“Now. Mister Nott. If you would tell us what happened?” Theo started to talk, recounting everything that happened the night before. Dumbledore looked troubled for a moment before his normal sparkle was back.

“Mr. Malfoy. Maybe you could explain to me why you were in Hogsmeade when I have on good authority that you were serving detention here at the castle?” Draco opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of a good excuse as to why he was there. Dumbledore smiled merrily and Draco had the feeling that the old man knew way more about what was going on, than what he was actually telling them.

“The story for now is that you were informed of the attack by Mr. Crabbe and snuck down to Hogsmeade to see Mr. Nott.” Draco nodded, glad for once that the Headmaster was so insightful.

“However, in light of the most recent happenings, our plans must be moved up significantly. Your positions as spies must be released to the Order of the Phoenix. It is possible that whoever attacked you was on our side, and that is a risk we cannot take again.” The four of them looked at one another. Their lives would be changing again.


	13. New Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the first time in months, I've finally had Amanda around to beta this for me, so if it's better than normal, thank her.   
> (On a side note, having your best friend for a beta is amazing unless you live four states away from one another.)

It was nearly two weeks before they were called back to Dumbledore’s office. Draco wasn’t sure what he could have been doing all that time, but he had the feeling he probably wouldn’t ever find out. 

A knock sounded on the door. 

“Ah. And here they are now. Come in!” Dumbledore called. Professor Mcgonagall walked in, closely followed by Professor Snape.

“I think we will wait for the others to arrive before we begin,” Dumbledore announced. Five minutes later, several more people stepped out of the floo. Draco recognized his old Professor, Remus Lupin, and Kingsley Shacklebolt from trips to the Ministry with his father. Two of the people sported bright red hair, and Draco recognized them as Weasley’s parents. He paled when he realized that the last person to step from the fire was none other than, Alastor Moody. Hermione smiled at him knowingly, and took his hand. 

“Ah Alastor! We’re all here then!”

“What’s the meaning of this emergency meeting Albus,” Mcgonagall demanded, “Why are these students here?” 

“Ah right to the heart of it. These students are here because they have been spying on the Dark Lord for several months now.” The room seemed to explode with questions. Dumbledore simply held up a hand. “They have been working with Miss Granger here on some projects that I will not reveal the nature of at this time.” Draco felt Hermione squeeze his hand a little harder at the mention of her name. He squeezed it back. 

The headmaster clapped his hands together. “We have had several problems crop up, specifically the knowledge that Voldemort may be aware of the boys’ spying. It is essential that they act as normal as possible. This means returning to their families over the Christmas holidays.” 

Theo looked as if he were going to be sick. Hermione, Draco and Blaise shared a horrified look before they all shouted, “No!” The rest of the room looked taken aback at their response. 

“Why ever not,” Mrs. Weasley asked the three of them. 

It was Theo’s secret to tell. He nodded at them and Draco never thought he could be so proud of his friend. Theo started to remove his shirt, confusing the onlookers. Then he turned around. Hermione winced and buried her face in Draco’s arm so she didn’t have to look again. Draco understood. Once was enough. It pained him to see what had been inflicted upon his friend, and when he looked at Blaise he knew he felt the same. 

“Merlin Theo, we know you’re pretty but put your shirt back on,” Draco finally said. Theo smirked, throwing his shirt around his shoulders. 

“Checking me out, were you Malfoy?”

“The only one who would check you out is your mother, Nott,” Blaise piped up. 

“I dunno, I’m pretty sure yours would, Zabini,” Theo replied with a cheeky grin. Draco and Hermione did their best not to laugh as they watched the emotions play across Blaise’s face, finally settling on indifference. 

“I think that answers your question.” Theo looked Mrs. Weasley dead in the eye. She could only nod. Draco thought it looked like she was holding back tears. 

Dumbledore peered over his glasses. “You do understand what this means then, do you not? You will never be able to go back to them, you will have to spend the rest of the war in hiding, and none except those gathered in this room must ever know you’re alive.” Theo nodded mutely.

“I’m afraid then Mister Nott, that this means that this is your last month at Hogwarts.” Hermione gasped and looked at her adopted brother in pity. 

“Honestly Mia, you act like it’s the end of the world. Just bring me your notes when you come to visit.” Hermione smiled smugly. 

“You’re going to regret that mate,” Blaise told him. “Ow!” He rubbed the back of his head as Hermione had smacked him. Draco sniggered at him and Hermione smacked him too. 

“Merlin woman! I didn’t even say anything!” She just glared at them. Draco muttered under his breath, “bloody females.” Hermione pretended not to hear him. 

“As touching a thought as that is Miss Granger, I’m afraid that once he is in hiding, visiting Mister Nott will be rendered impossible.”

The color drained from Theo’s face, and Hermione looked like she might cry. 

“No! I won’t do it then,” Theo yelled. 

Hermione walked over and hugged him. “Theo. Please. Be safe for me,” she whispered. He shook his head and started talking to her in the broken Italian they had all learned from Blaise.

“Please, Mia. You're the only family I have left. I can’t lose you too. I can’t. You’re my sister Mia, please understand. I can’t run away and hide while you're out here fighting. I've already done it once. I'm not making the same mistake again.” He looked up at Blaise and Draco. “That goes for you too. You guys are like my brothers. Except for you Draco. because that would be weird.”

Draco rolled his eyes while Blaise smirked at him. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we love you too asshole. But we did make a promise to you. We swore we were never going to let you go back there. So pack your bags sunshine, you’re going into hiding,” Draco told him bluntly. 

Theo started to bristle. “You have no right-”

“No Theo, they’re right. You can’t go back there. If our secret is out, they won’t wait, or torture you like before. They’ll kill you on the spot. Please Theo. We need you too. You’re no good to us dead,” Hermione told him softly. He watched them all silently

“Fine. I’ll do it.” he said the last part in English for the sake of everyone else in the room. His three friends broke into relieved smiles. “On one condition,” he added. Dumbledore nodded at him to go on. “I want a way to contact my family. Owl, two way mirror, I don’t care. But I want to be able to contact them and know they’re safe.” 

Dumbledore nodded. “That can be arranged Mister Nott. Now then,” Dumbledore clapped his hands together again, “Mister Zabini. I will give you the same option as Mister Nott. Should you decide to go through with it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the company.” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. 

“You mean-” Blaise watched the headmaster carefully. He only nodded. Blaise broke into a grin. “You rescued them! They’re safe!” The other three let out sighs of relief that they didn’t know they’d been holding and grinned. “But if I go with Theo, what will happen to Micael?” 

Dumbledore eyed him carefully. “That is up to you. I’m sure he would be perfectly safe, here at Hogwarts, however if you would prefer he come with you, I’m sure that could be arranged as well.” 

Blaise nodded. “I’ll talk to him about it.” 

 

The next few weeks passed quickly for the boys, but they knew they seemed to drag on and on for Hermione, who was being confronted by Potter and Weasley about her friendship with the boys, every time she turned around.  Theo had to be held back from punching the other two in the face every few days. He hated having to let Hermione take care of herself, he had already lost one sister, he didn’t ever want to lose another. Even if she was only adopted.

Theo, for his part, was fluctuating between being excited, and panicking. On one hand, it would be nice not having to ever worry about going back to his father’s abuse. On the other, he was in a state of panic over leaving Hermione and Draco behind. Draco especially. Hermione would at least have someone to look out for her when not at school, Draco would have no one and it worried him more than he cared to admit.

“What’s that,” Blaise asked, Theo looked up to see Draco reading a letter on the bed across from him.

“My dear mother would like to request that I stay here at school and work on my ‘extra-curricular projects’.” 

“Yes!” Theo and Blaise both chorused. Theo let out a secret breath of relief. That was one less week that he had to worry about his friend. Draco grinned.

“I think this calls for a celebration!” All of them leapt out of bed and ran for the door.  There would be firewhiskey in their future.


	14. Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is starting up again, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to update more than once a month.   
> Enjoy!

The plan to get Theo and Blaise safely into hiding was explained to them  the night before they were meant to leave. All of the boys were elated at the plan, as it meant that Draco could come with them, at least through the holidays. It would in fact, be the first Holidays that they would spend together as a family and no one was more excited than Hermione. Theo knew that for them, this meant more than just a family Christmas, it was a way to prove to her other friends that the boys weren’t as bad as everyone supposed. It was for this reason, and this reason only that the boys had agreed to be at least civil to their hosts and her Gryffindor friends. 

Theo and Blaise waited for whoever was supposed to retrieve them, Micael’s hand clasped firmly in Blaise’s. Theo was staring out the window, lost in thought as he watched the families reunite on the platform. 

“Will you quit fidgeting!” Blaise snapped at him. Theo stopped snapping his fingers and sent his friend an apologetic smile. The door to their compartment opened and the boys instantly recognized the bright red hair of Arthur Weasley. They both relaxed. 

“Okay there boys?” He asked them. All three nodded. “Right then.”  he clasped them both on the shoulders and Blaise held on to Micael’s hand tighter as Mr. Weasley apparated them all away. They looked up to find themselves in an alleyway. 

“Where are we?” Blaise asked

“Oh nowhere important.” Mr. Weasley said, leading them to a car. 

“Hop in boys.” He said to them. They looked at each other and shrugged before climbing in.

Three hours later, they found themselves in front of a house that looked like it came straight from a story book. Micael looked around in awe, Blaise and Theo just tried not to make any rude comments. They walked into the house and discovered it was a lot bigger than they originally thought. Their eyes came to fall on Draco, who was lounging in the kitchen, leaning as far back in his chair as it would go, with his feet on the edge of the wooden table. He smirked at them. Molly Weasley bustled in, looking a bit rough around the edges. 

“Oh good! You’re all here. Draco, feet off the table dear.” Theo and Blaise laughed out loud at the sight of Draco Malfoy being called dear. Especially by a Weasley. He scowled at them. 

“Think that’s funny do you?” But Theo noticed that he dropped his feet to the floor anyway. 

“Oh my, Theo dear, you really must eat something! You are much too thin!” It was Theo’s turn to scowl while Draco and Blaise laughed. Secretly though, he enjoyed having Mrs. Weasley fawning all over him, it was almost like having a mother. Hermione came running into the room. 

“You’re here!” she threw her arms around first Theo and then Blaise. Theo noticed Ron scowling at her from the corner. Did the youngest male Weasley have a crush on his dear sister? He scowled at the boy, who gave him a sharp glare, he quickly stopped though, when Hermione turned to look at him. His glare was then replaced with a blush. He did! That wouldn’t do. Theo nudged Blaise and nodded at the blushing Ron. Blaise noticed and scowled as well. Theo knew he was just as protective of Hermione as he was (okay not quite) and he also knew that Blaise believed that Draco and Hermione deserved each other. 

Theo wasn’t sure if he agreed with Blaise on that point, as he was of the opinion that no one would ever be worthy of dating his sister. But Draco would be a hell of a lot better than Weasley. 

“What are you two scowling at?” Draco asked, looking confused

“Nothing.” Theo and Blaise answered in unison. Someone heard Blaise’s voice, because not a minute later, he was surrounded by little girls, all screaming ‘Blaise!’ at the top of their lungs. Draco and Theo shared a secret smile with Hermione. Blaise, for his part, looked fairly pleased. He picked up Annabel, his youngest sister, and hugged her close, as his other two sisters clung to his legs. Mrs. Weasley looked like she was also holding back tears.

“Why don’t you boys put your trunks in Charlie’s old room. Hermione dear can you show them where it is?” She nodded 

“Come on then.” Theo followed his sister silently as Blaise detached himself from his sisters, promising them that no he wasn’t going anywhere. Draco followed them lazily. The boys looked in the room and discovered that the room was nearly all bed, as a second full sized bed had somehow been shoved in beside the original. Draco flopped himself onto the closer bed and watched the rest of them contemplatively. Theo and Blaise stacked their trunks (as well as Micael’s as he had run off as soon as they had arrived, and was nowhere to be found) in a corner, and flopped onto the other bed almost simultaneously. Causing Theo’s thinner frame to bounce into Blaise. 

“Oi!” Blaise complained loudly. Hermione grinned and Theo thought that she practically radiated happiness. She flopped onto the bed beside Draco and took his and Blaise’s hands. 

“I’m glad you guys are here.” she said after a long moment. Draco slid up so he was laying in the bed properly. He was followed by both Blaise and Theo, who was impressed by the quality of the pillows. Hermione turned so her head was resting on Draco’s stomach and her legs across Blaise and Theo. None of the boys said anything, having been well acquainted with how tactile Hermione could be. Draco absentmindedly ran his fingers through her curls. 

Blaise nodded at the two of them silently. Theo gave him a ‘so what?’ look and Blaise just shook his head in what Theo interpreted as an ‘I’ll tell you later.’ The calm that the four had fallen into was broken however when they heard Ron yelling from downstairs. 

“I can’t believe you let her go up there with them alone! They’ve been up there ages! What if they did something to her?” Theo rolled his eyes. 

“I know I can be impulsive but please tell me I don’t sound like that.” He told his friends. they all looked at each other and then broke out into laughter. Their laughter must have been pretty loud, as a minute later, three different Weasleys were looking into the room to see the four of them still laughing hysterically. 

“Well what do you know, Malfoy can laugh.” Ginny commented 

“Of course he can laugh Ginny, he’s not a robot.” Hermione replied with a snort. 

“What’s a robot.” Ginny and all three boys asked. Hermione just sighed.

“What are you doing Hermione!” Ron yelled, finally noticing how Hermione was splayed out across the three  boys. She looked at him. 

“Laying here?” She replied nonchalantly. Theo had to bit his lip to keep from making a snide remark about how his face was the same color as his hair. And when he looked over at Blaise and Draco, he was almost positive that they were doing the same. Apparently Hermione noticed too, as she gave all three of them a warning look. Ginny however had no such reservations and she pointed at her brother’s face and laughed

“Honestly Ron, you need to calm down, she’s not even doing anything!” 

“It’s not her I’m worried about.” He muttered darkly. 

“What exactly are you expecting us to do?” Blaise asked snidely. Theo snapped his fingers and Hermione eyed him suspiciously when he said 

“I know! We could do this!” He tickled Hermione’s feet, which were still in his lap. She shrieked and Blaise and Draco held her down while Theo attacked her stomach. All three boys laughed at her helpless giggles. Ginny had fallen to the ground in laughter as well. 

“Theo!” She gasped out “I’m going to kill you!” He grinned at her cheekily

“Nah, you love me too much!” She scowled at him.

“Fine. I’ll braid your hair.” Theo’s eyes widened. 

“You wouldn’t dare.” Blaise and Draco let go of Hermione they were laughing so hard at Theo’s shocked face. She grinned at him.

“Oh I’d dare.” 

“Sucks for you man.” Blaise commented, gesturing at his short hair. 

“Ever heard of magic Blaise darling?” Hermione threatened. Blaise shut his mouth and Theo thought he looked about two shades lighter than normal. They were all silent for a moment before a sudden thought occurred to Theo.

“Guys. We’re not at school. You know what that means?” the other three rolled their eyes while the Weasleys just looked on.

“What does that mean Theo?” Blaise finally took the bait

“We can wear jeans.” Blaise and Draco suddenly grinned and jumped up off the bed, shoving Hermione out the door as they went. 

“I’ve been replaced with an article of clothing.” She moaned. They ignored her and slammed the door in her face. Hermione just rolled her eyes. Don’t you three have something you could be doing?” she asked the Weasleys that surrounded her. 

 


	15. Holidays-Part 2

It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve and they were sitting in the living room playing a round of exploding snap on the floor when they heard the front door open. All of the teens looked up to see Remus enter the room. 

“I brought visitors!” Remus smiled at Theo, who’s face broke into a grin when he saw the fascinated faces of Hermione’s parents peering out from behind Remus.

“Mum! Dad!” Hermione cried out, launching herself into her parents’ arms. The boys weren’t far behind her, much to the confusion of the everyone else in the room. 

“Hey Mr. and Mrs. G!” Theo said happily. 

“Hermione! Theo Darling! How are you!?” He shrugged. 

“Oh my goodness! You’ve gotten so tall! Look it Richard! He’s almost taller than you are now! I remember when you were just a tiny thing, barely taller than Hermione.” Elizabeth Granger laughed, giving Theo a hug he happily returned. He loved Hermione’s parents more than he had ever loved his own, and if they asked, he would gladly call them his mum and dad. Not that they ever would, they had no idea what his situation at home was.

The first time he had gone to the Granger’s house was a two weeks after the end of their first year of Hogwarts. It was the first of many trips the boys made to visit the Grangers. And Theo always went home upset that he couldn’t stay there forever. Or another week at least. It had been tradition to go to the Grangers for at least a week over summer break, sometimes these trips would be extended to last two weeks or even a month one time. Often times Blaise would bring his younger siblings with and others it was just Theo. Theo was closest to the Grangers of all of the boys. He would often find himself making excuses to have to go to Blaise or Draco’s houses, just to get away from his father. Until the last year. That year, none of them saw the Grangers at all. Theo hadn’t realized how much he missed them. 

“Oh Draco! Blaise! How are you boys doing?” Mrs. Granger coo’d Draco and Blaise both shrugged, grinning at the alarmed looks on Harry and Ron’s faces. 

“Auntie Lizzie! Uncle Rich!” four pairs of little feet ran into the room and launched themselves at the Grangers. 

“Oh look at you! You’re starting to get so big!” they told the children lovingly

“How long are you staying?” Theo asked them, not daring to hope. 

“Only through Christmas love.” He tried not to show his disappointment.

 

Blaise was annoyed. It was bad enough he had to share Hermione with Potter and Weasley at school, but having to share her while they were out of school was just traumatic. He needed to talk to her, desperately so, before she went back to school, but how could he when stupid Potter and Weasley kept following her around? It was starting to tick him off. By the time dinner came around he was nearly desperate enough to just talk to her with them there. Almost. 

As soon as they were done eating, Blaise dragged Hermione back to their room, where she sat on the bed and patiently and waited for him to start. When Blaise took too long to gather his thoughts, Hermione intervened. 

“This is about Luna isn’t it?” Blaise winced. 

“Am I that obvious?” Hermione laughed 

“No, I just know you.” She paused “Did you ask her out before we left?” 

“No!” Blaise wailed. “And that’s exactly my problem! I’m not going back to Hogwarts with you and Draco!” Hermione blinked once. Twice.

“Oh. Did you decide for sure then?” Blaise nodded and sat beside her on the bed. 

“Yeah. Micael and I talked about it, and we decided it was probably best for all of us to stay together. The girls are still really hesitant around new people. Especially after… this summer.” Hermione took his hand, but didn’t press him for details. Blaise was the type of person that if he wanted to tell you something, he would tell you. He wasn’t like Draco or Theo who had to be pushed in order to open up. It saddened her to think about how guarded the, normally very open and energetic Blaise, had become even since first year. She rested her head on his shoulder. 

“So what are you going to do about Luna?”

“I guess I’ll just either have to wait, or not ask her out at all.” 

“Or you could write her a letter, which I can give to her. Did you forget that I’m friends with her?” Blaise turned to stare at her, a bit alarmed.

“You’d do that?” 

“Of course. And you know if you wanted to give one another messages I would be happy to pass them along through Theo. Or maybe I could do something different. Like another Protean charm on a notebook or something, so we can keep communicating. That way all of us could communicate. Or-” She flushed as Blaise laughed. 

“Mia, have I mentioned recently that I love you? Because I do.”

“You could stand to mention it more,” she replied cheekily before standing up. “Now go write your letter!” she stopped in the doorway and looked back at him. “Oh and Blaise? It’ll work out. You’ll see.” Blaise sighed and dug around in his bag for a spare quill. How did you even ask someone out via letter anyway. It seemed tacky to him.

 

Hermione winced as Mrs. Weasley started to sing again. Mr Weasley interrupted her this time. 

“Molly dear. Why don’t we let our guests choose some music? I’d love to know what sort of music is popular in the muggle world!” Arthur suggested. Hermione jumped up to get some records out of Theo’s ever expanding collection, more than a little relieved. She liked the Weasleys, she really did, but the hustle and bustle was sometimes more than she could handle. She found one that she thought everyone would like and brought it down to the living room. As the first notes of  _ Swing Swing _ began to play, she shared a secret smile with Draco, knowing it to be a favorite of his. He had always liked the more musically driven songs. Her Mother jumped up.

“Ooh Excellent choice Hermione!” she told her daughter appraisingly. Hermione’s father laughed and spun her mother around the room. All three boys laughed. This was a common occurrence in the Granger household, as both Richard and Elizabeth were very avid dancers. Richard pulled Hermione up by her hands and she laughed as he spun her around the room the way he did her mother. She noticed her mother pull Draco up from across the room. She grinned at that. Poor Draco was almost always the first to receive dance invitations from Elizabeth, as he was the only one of the boys who had ever taken any form of dance lessons. 

“I wanna dance too!” Lucia called out. Blaise laughed and picked her up, spinning her around as well. Theo grinned and held out a hand to Ginny. She grinned back and took the outstretched hand. Over the course of the next few songs, everyone found themselves being dragged onto the floor by someone or the other. The only exceptions to the rule were Harry and Ron, who in a repeat of the Yule Ball, still refused to dance. Hermione found herself dancing with just about everyone, finally settling on Draco. She grinned at him. 

 

_ Hermione watched her parents dance around the room with a sort of glee. She had always loved when they did this, even as a child. Unlike usual however, they stopped halfway through the song and invited her to join in. She knew how to dance of course, you didn’t live with such avid dancers and not learn, but she didn’t think she had ever been asked to join in on one of the impromptu living room dances. _

_ It could be however, she pondered watching as her mother pulled Theo off the couch with where he’d been sitting before, that her parents hadn’t invited her because she wouldn’t have a partner. Although partner was a relative term, as Theo was really quite terrible at it. It didn’t matter however, as he got the hang of the steps, he got better, and soon he was swinging her around the living room with ease.  _

_ His favorite song by far, however, was Footloose. _

 

The song changed again and Theo started snapping with the music. Hermione grinned at him from across the room. Draco just shook his head, knowing exactly what was happening. Theo mouthed the words at her, detaching himself from little Maria who was his current partner. He danced his way across the room to her.  He reached her just as the chorus hit. 

_ Cut Loose, Footloose _

Hermione had taught all of the boys the dance when they were thirteen, but only Theo had truly enjoyed it’s simplicity. He was the only one Hermione had bothered to show the movie to. She danced and mock sang the second chorus at him. She adored Theo as if her were her brother, and it was moments like this that really made her wish he was. A sudden thought came to her, and she had to force herself to keep dancing. She would definitely have to talk to her  parents. 

The song changed again, blasting  _ Ain’t No Mountain High Enough _ from the speakers, and they shared a secret smile. She was passed back to Draco, and Hermione was suddenly struck with what a mess her hair and clothes must be after all that dancing. One look up at Draco however, and she realized that it didn’t even matter. Not for this song. The song was something of a tradition for the four of them. It was the song that they always listened to in the car on the way to the Granger’s house, and the song they thought summarized their relationship best. Hermione laughed as Draco spun her in a circle, her self consciousness forgotten.

She just wished the night didn’t have to end.

 

“Pssttt” The boys looked up to see Hermione at the door of their room. Blaise, seeing who it was, dropped back to sleep immediately. Micael didn’t even wake up, and Draco just watched her with sleepy, half lidded eyes. Theo pushed himself onto one arm.

“Mia. What’r you doing?” Hermione fidgeted

“I wanna sleep with you guys. Fleur talks in her sleep.” Theo looked at her with groggy eyes. 

“So? We don’t have all night.” He told her. She nodded at him with a smile and climbed into the bed between Theo and Draco. 

“Night Theo. Night Draco.” 

“Night Mia.” Theo replied. Draco just squeezed her hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm happy with parts of this chapter, not so much with others. But I didn't want to keep you all waiting any more!


	16. Holidays-Part 3

Theo woke up to the sounds of small children’s laughter and groaned. He tried to pull the pillow back over his face, but he realized with annoyance it had been commandeered by Hermione. Who was once again curled up against Draco. Theo rolled his eyes.

It was a regular occurrence that had been happening since the first time the four had fallen asleep together when they were eleven. It didn’t matter where Hermione and Draco were in the sleeping lineup, they would wake up next to each other, and tangled up more often than not. The boys had several different theories for why this happened, ranging anywhere from being sill, to ridiculously complex. The generally agreed on explanation was that Hermione was so hot blooded she was automatically drawn to Draco, who was chronically cold. Theo and Blaise had a secret opinion that they only used to tease Draco when Hermione wasn’t around, saying that the two of them were actually soul mates. 

They never told him that they believed it to be true. 

Theo felt a small body jump onto the bed and turned over to see Maria and Lucia staring at him. He hit Blaise who was sleeping beside him. Blaise groaned and turned to look at his sisters, shoving his little brother into the wall. Micael glared at his brother. 

“Blaise!” Lucia yelled 

“I’m up Luci. Stop yelling” Blaise growled. Lucia lowered her voice

“Why are Draco and Mia so close. Are they in love?” Blaise shared an amused look with Theo, Maria waited for the answer with just as much interest. 

“Yes. Now get out.” Blaise told them. 

“But Blaise! It’s Christmas!” Suddenly Micael was awake too. He jumped out of bed and joined the girls at the end of the bed. The jolt woke up Hermione and Draco. The former of which bolted upright with a small 

“Oh. It’s Christmas.” Theo rolled his eyes, leave it to Hermione to be awake like that. Draco however just glared at Hermione for moving. Theo smirked at him. Draco glared at him too. Theo just smirked harder. Annabel waddled her way into the room yelling at the top of her little lungs 

“Kissmas. Kissmas.” 

“Looks like the whole family’s here.” Draco commented, finally giving up on sleep and sitting up against the wall. Theo grinned.

“This is the best Christmas present ever.” Hermione smiled at him

“But you don’t have any presents Theo.” Lucia told him. He grinned at her. 

“You’re my present Luci!”he pulled her into a hug and she giggled but over her head he shared a look with his friends, telling them exactly what he meant. They nodded at him in agreement. Theo would be happy if he never got another present his entire life, as long as he could keep things just as they were in that moment. The Weasley twins appeared in the doorway. 

“Sorry about the monsters. They escaped.” They said with matching grins. The two had apparently forgotten their previous animosity in the wake of the holiday. It helped that they also had a soft spot for Blaise’s siblings, although Theo and Draco had caught them trying to feed poor Micael some sort of pastry that was sure to have ill effects. Draco waved them off. 

“Join us?” Blaise grinned at them. They grinned back

“Don’t mind if we do!” They filed in and crawled onto the bed on the other side of Blaise.

“Are we having Christmas in here then?” Ginny asked from the doorway, smothering a yawn.  Everyone else just shrugged. Ron and Harry appeared behind Ginny. Ron scowled at his brothers and Hermione sitting on the bed. Harry however just grinned at the group. 

“Happy Christmas everyone!” even Draco cracked a smile at him. Fred and George pushed all of them out of the room with a cry of 

“Presents!”

  
  


Theo  was impressed and just a little alarmed when he found that Mrs. Weasley had knitted all of the boys, as well as Blaise’s sisters sweaters; despite not knowing they would be coming until two weeks before the holidays. Theo had to admire her for her dedication to the craft. That had to have been some hardcore knitting. By the time dinner came around he was nearly high on the feeling of love and appreciation that radiated from his little family. For the first time, they could celebrate Christmas together, and not just in some random classroom sometime after New Years.

Dinner itself was relatively uneventful, with the exception of the dirty looks that Mrs. Weasley kept shooting Fleur. Personally, Theo didn’t know what she had against her future daughter in law, she seemed perfectly pleasant to him. If fact he found he liked her quite a bit - he could relate to her, as he too was a foreigner to this strange family. Harry was in the middle of asking Remus what seemed like he probably thought was a relatively important question, when Mrs. Weasley suddenly stood up. 

“Arthur!” she said, still staring out the window. “Arthur it’s Percy!”

“What?” he stood up and joined her in looking out the window. Theo eyed the man in the window curiously. His horn rimmed glasses gleamed in the sunlight, and he was dressed impeccably. Theo could appreciate someone who knew how to dress properly. The room went aflutter again when they realized he wasn’t alone. Personally, Theo wasn’t too sure what the big deal about the minister being there was, but he wasn’t about to say anything. 

As soon as he heard the news however, Draco had disappeared from the room, Theo considered following him, but he wasn’t finished with his ham yet. He was a bit relieved when Blaise got up to follow Draco from the room instead. Theo really loved ham. 

He never did get the chance to finish it however, as the prodigal Weasley and the Minister of Magic’s arrival had distracted everyone else from their meals, and he found that as soon as the Minister had found some excuse to run off with Harry, the rest of the room had cleared out. 

Theo sighed and stood up from the table as well. He noticed Percy standing awkwardly in the center of the kitchen being fawned over by Mrs. Weasley. Theo pitied him a bit, he knew what it was like to be uncomfortable in your own home, granted in an entirely different manner. He walked up the the uncomfortable man and handed him a glass of the punch that Fred and George had spiked earlier. 

“Here. Have some holiday cheer!” He greeted the Weasley. Molly fluttered away, sobbing into a handkerchief, and Theo looked up just in time to see Elizabeth wink at him. He flushed slightly. Percy raises an eyebrow at him, but takes the punch anyway. 

“Thanks?”

“Don’t thank me, thank Fred and George, they’re the ones who spiked it.”

“Does my mother know?”

“They’re still around, so I expect not.”

“Seems like a palpable assumption.”

“Merlin, what do you do? You sound like a walking dictionary! And that’s saying something because my sister is Hermione Granger.” 

“You can’t be Hermione’s brother. I happen to know that she doesn’t have any siblings.”

“Shows what you know. She may not be my sister by blood, but she’s my sister in every way that counts!” Theo said hotly, he didn’t appreciate people talking down at him, especially when his sister was involved.

“What ways are those?” Theo paused and observed the other boy, he didn’t seem to be condescending, just genuinely interested in what Theo thought. 

“She’s my best friend. She’s-” Theo’s words died on his lips, how did he explain to this boy who had apparently abandoned his family, that Hermione was the family he chose for himself? “Look. You have five brothers and a sister, right?” Percy nodded “Could you ever imagine anyone else taking the place of those siblings?” Percy looked thoughtful.

“I can’t imagine so.”

“Right. It’s a bit different, because- I mean- you grew up with your brothers and your sister right? You know just about everything about them, and sometimes they drive you crazy but you love them anyway.” Theo paused to collect his thoughts. “That’s what Hermione is to me. I chose her six years ago, when I met her on the train. And- not everyone gets a cool, loving family, okay? And not everyone is lucky enough to get to choose theirs- but it doesn’t matter how many other people come my way, Hermione will always be my sister.” Percy looked a bit stunned.

“That’s ridiculous. That’s like saying that you can just chose your Hogwarts house. You can’t choose where you belong.”

“You chose to leave your family behind. I chose my family. How is it any different? And you can too choose your Hogwarts house. I did.” 

“What do you mean, you did. It’s impossible. Magic that old would never allow for such trivial changes as choice.”

“Oh and I suppose you’re an expert on centuries old magical artifacts? How do you know what the sorting hat can and can’t do?”

“I probably know more about it than you. Have you even sat your O.W.L.’s yet?” Despite his coarse manner, Percy had a small smile on his lips for the first time that night, and Theo found he enjoyed the banter. It grew old arguing with your own family.

“Hey!”

“Percy! Leave him alone!” Theo turned to see the three youngest Weasley boys standing there. He wasn’t sure who it was that spoke, but he was a bit mutinous.

“Yeah, just because you’re a dick to us doesn't mean you get to be a dick to our guests.” One of the twins spoke up. Theo saw red.

“What the fuck? You walk in and interrupt a conversation that doesn’t even have anything to do with you, just to chew out your brother, even though I’m the one that started the argument- not to mention that none of you even like me in the first place! What the hell? What gives you the right to treat him like that? I would  _ kill _ to have a family like yours instead of a shit dad and a dead mum. Let alone siblings! Well if this is how your family treats it’s own, you can keep your fucking hospitality, I’ll stick with my fucked up little family. They may be adopted, but at least I know they care.” 

Theo stormed out the kitchen door without a backwards glance. He brushed past Potter and the Minister, who were just walking in, and stood in the middle of the yard, looking out at the frozen landscape. For the first time in weeks, he felt like crying.

It was a minute before he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Theo turned to see Percy standing behind him, looking like an awkward mess. He shuffled his feet awkwardly, and Theo was struck by just how cute he was. For a Weasley of course.

“Hey, thanks back there. We have to go, but- despite everything- I actually had fun. So thanks… heavens, I don’t even know your name.”

“Theo. Theo Nott.” Theo held out his hand for the other boy.

“Percy Weasley. Pleasure to meet you Theo.” He turned to leave again, but stopped and looked back. “And Theo, if you ever need anything… just let me know.” Theo nodded and gave him a small smile. Seconds later, Percy was gone, and Theo was left smiling into the snowy afternoon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I blame Colubrina for most of this chapter. If you haven't read it yet, go read her fic, Rebuilding, because it's great.


	17. Presents

The fire was dying in the grate when the last Weasley trudged upstairs to bed, leaving the four friends on the floor of the living room. They all pulled out the presents they had gotten for each other from their various hiding places around the room. Opening presents together with just the four of them was a tradition that none of them had been fond of giving up. Even if it meant that they had to stay up until 2 in the morning to do so. 

“I have just one request.” Hermione said before they all started “Open mine last.” They all nodded and rearranged their presents. The first one Theo opened was from Draco, and he grinned when he saw the tiny dragon move around in his palm, not unlike the dragon Harry had received for his first task in the Triwizard tournament. 

“Sweet.” He said, watching the dragon flit about. Draco shrugged

“I figured you guys would need a reminder of how incredibly awesome I am, while you’re in solitude.” Theo smirked at him. Blaise opened his from Draco next, and found himself staring at a mirror. Draco smirked at him. 

“For your vain little head. That’s a rather old artifact that can make you into anything you want to be without changing your appearance. Really old magic that. Anyway, I figure if you ask it for strength or bravery or all that nonsense, it should be able to help you out. Assuming it’s not broken of course. Found the thing in a closet of the manor while I was exploring this summer.” Blaise nodded, staring at it in awe. 

Theo watched Draco in awe as well. Despite his callousness, it was an incredibly well thought out present that may just be able to help Blaise through any potential panic attacks while he was in hiding. Even Theo’s present was well designed. Draco had obviously caught on to Theo’s dis ease with his family being split up, and was trying to help him in any way he knew how.  Hermione started to open her present. Inside she found a first edition copy of ‘Hogwarts a History’ Theo rolled his eyes. What a nerd. Hermione stared at in awe however. 

“Draco! Where did you find this?” She whispered, He shrugged.

“We have all sorts of random crap in our library at the manor.” 

“Thank you.” She said sincerely, holding it close to her chest. Draco shrugged again, looking pleased with himself. 

It was Theo’s turn again. He opened Blaise’s present to find a pair of jeans. He eyed Blaise questioningly 

“Theo, even I could tell you’ve outgrown the ones you have. And I put charms on these ones, so they shouldn’t rip or stain.” Theo laughed. 

“Excellent!”  Hermione and Draco laughed at his excitement. Draco reached for Blaise’s present. and then laughed again as he opened it to find a box filled to the brim with Licorice wands and every flavor beans. Theo knew how much Draco loved sweets (a habit that both Hermione and her parents frowned upon) and every year Draco got a box of them from Blaise. This year was tame, two years before, Blaise gave him a box full of chocolate frogs, which he had removed from their original packaging and left to jump out of the box as soon as Draco opened it.

“Aww yes!” Draco pulled out one of the wands to snack on while Blaise opened his present from Theo. Blaise’s eyes widened when he discovered the gift to hold a carefully crafted wooden wizards chess set. 

“Did you make this?” Blaise asked, picking up a piece in wonder. Theo nodded, holding back a grin. “Merlin!” Blaise exclaimed when he examined the pieces closer. “It’s us!” Theo didn’t bother holding back a grin anymore.

“Yup! Mia’s the queen because we all know she could rule the world if she wanted, Draco’s the king because he talks big, but is basically useless-”

“Hey!” Draco interrupted. Theo grinned cheekily at him and carried on. There was no way he was going to tell him that it was actually because he was the one who always had Hermione’s back. That he was essentially her other half. No way in hell.

“I’m the knight, rushing into danger and all that nonsense, and you’re the castle. Cuz you’re always there for us when we need it.” Theo informed Blaise briskly. Blaise continued to study the pieces.

“Thank you Theo.” he whispered

“Oh, and all of the pawns alternate between Potter and Weasley!” The boys laughed while Hermione looked appalled. 

“Theo!” They just laughed harder. Hermione opened her present from Blaise next. Hermione’s present was different from the boys’ in that it was not nearly as large and flashy. She stared at it dumbstruck. Theo craned his head to look. It was a rather fashionable ladies watch, similar to something one might find in a muggle shop. But instead of telling time, the watch acted similar to the grandfather clock in the Weasley’s living room. It had four hands, one for each of them in their little family. 

“Thank you Blaise.” She whispered, staring at the hands which were all pointed to the ‘home’ position. 

“My mum had one made to help her remember who she left the kids with, and I liked the idea. I had it made this summer.” 

It was supposed to be Theo’s turn next, but Hermione had requested that her present remain last, so she prompted Draco to open his last present from Theo. He did so with much vigor, ripping apart the paper that Theo had charmed to say ‘you’re an asshole’ at random intervals, much to Hermione’s annoyance. Blaise, however, had found it hilarious. 

“What is it?” Draco asked, rolling it over and over in his hands. To all appearances, it seemed to be a wooden ball.

“It’s a ball.” Theo told him importantly. Draco glared at him

“Thanks. But what does it  _ do _ ?” He asked, inspecting it as if staring at it would make it reveal its secrets. 

“I put a charm on it so if anyone in the vicinity is thinking badly of you, it’ll go cold, thinking well of you, hot. I figured it might be useful when you’re in the snakepit.” Draco nodded and continued to roll it through his fingers. 

“Thanks Theo.” He grinned suddenly. “Now I’ll have proof that you’re lying when you tell me you hate me.” Theo just rolled his eyes.

Now it was Hermione’s turn again. Theo watched her anxiously, he never really knew what to get his sister, she was not as clear cut a person as Potter and Weasley liked to believe. She unwrapped it cautiously, tearing the paper only when necessary. When she finally got the paper off to reveal a black, leather bound book. Her eyes widened. There was no title on it, but she knew exactly what it was as soon as she opened the cover. Inside, each page was filled with various pictures of the four of them, taken with her camera since they were eleven years old. 

“It auto fills.” he told her “Every time you take a picture with your camera from now on, it’ll appear in the book. If you want to remove it, all you have to do is tap it with your wand and say ‘cancellare’” she nodded as she scanned the photos. Theo grinned 

“Now we get to see Mia’s mysterious presents!” Hermione grinned 

“Blaise starts first this time.” Theo looked offended, but let Blaise go first anyway, he wasn’t one to argue with the will of Hermione. Blaise pulled the wrapping from Hermione’s present, and laughed when he saw what it was. Theo laughed too when he saw the title. Hermione had gotten Blaise a book entitled ‘Nargles: Fact or fiction?’ Hermione smirked at him. 

“Research.” was all she said. Blaise refused to answer Theo and Draco’s questions on the nature of the book. Draco was next, he opened the envelope that held his present and spilled a small silver locket with a snake design into his palm. He opened it up, and looked at Hermione questioningly when he noticed that it held nothing at all. 

“Enlarge it some.” She prompted. Draco did as he was told and enlarged the locket so it was approximately the size of a plate. “Now stick your hand in.” Hermione ordered lightly. He did so, and was alarmed to find that his arm just kept going. “Undetectable extension charm.” she told him. “I figured you would probably need somewhere to store all that candy, and your jeans and those muggle novels I know you read. I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything more masculine.” She grinned nervously.

“No it’s perfect. Thanks Mia.” Draco whispered, shrinking the locket back to it’s original size and putting it in his pocket. It was Theo’s turn. He opened the envelope that held his present and was surprised to find that instead of an object falling out, it was a couple of papers. He picked them up and read through the first one, eyes widening as he quickly flipped to the second. He looked up at Hermione. 

“Really? They’d do that?” Hermione bit down a smile and nodded. Theo laughed and threw his arms around Hermione, ignoring Blaise and Draco’s confused looks. “This is the best present anyone has ever gotten me!” He whispered to her. Apparently he didn’t whisper low enough though as both Draco and Blaise let out an annoyed 

“Hey!” He tossed the letters at them. and watched them grin as they read. 

“Nevermind, you’re right. Mia wins this round.” Blaise said, tossing the papers back to Theo. 

“That’s crazy.” Draco said “You going to change your name too?” Theo shrugged. 

“Dunno yet.”

“We’re happy for you mate.” Blaise told him with a grin. Draco nodded. Hermione smiled softly at him. He couldn’t believe his luck. Ever since he was 11 years old, he’d always wanted to be Hermione’s brother. He’d always wanted a family like the Grangers. And now he did. It was everything he’d ever dreamed  of. 

 


	18. Midnight Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully it won't be forever before I post the next chapter. I've run out of pre written chapters so I'm back to writing them one at a time again.

Draco watched Hermione roll onto her back and stare up at the ceiling.

“What do you think the future will be like?” She asked. Draco wondered how she knew that none of them were asleep. Then he remembered that this was Hermione. Her job was to know everything. 

“What do you mean?” Blaise asked from beside her

“I mean.” She said slowly “What will we be like 10 years from now. What would change? What wouldn’t? Assuming this war wasn’t coming, that Voldemort never came back.” The boys thought about her question in silence for a while. All Draco could think was that she would definitely be in his. Even if he had to be disowned for it to happen. 

“I think I would tell my father off and have him arrested for child abuse, and murder and any other shit I could get on the bloody asshole.” Theo announced. Blaise went next.

“I think I would get my mother locked away as well. She’s a menace to society. I shouldn’t have had 7 stepfather’s before the age of seventeen. I shouldn’t have four half siblings, each with a different father. I shouldn’t have to spend the rest of my life being a dad when I should have been a brother.” Draco’s turn. What could he say? Where would he be in ten years? 

“I would move out of that bloody manor. That place has too many bad memories, too many rules. I want to live in a home, not a castle. I want my kids to be able to laugh without being afraid someone is going to yell at them.”

“You want kids?” Hermione asked quietly. Draco sighed

“Yeah. Always have. I always wanted to have siblings too, I thought maybe if there were more of me, maybe my father might not have been so, well, evil.” he shook his head to clear his thoughts “I guess I just like the idea of always having someone who knows exactly what you’re going through, because they’re going through the same thing.” Blaise nodded thoughtfully

“I get that, I mean I’m a lot older than my siblings, but I know exactly what goes through their heads every time mum goes husband hunting, because it’s the same thing that goes through mine.” 

“What about you Theo?” Hermione asked.

“I loved Carol.” Theo said. “She was the only bright thing in that stupid house. I hated how horrible he was to her, however bad it was for me, it was ten times worse for her. I had to sit and watch as he yelled and screamed and hit her over and over again, doing nothing to stop it because I was afraid. But she never stopped loving me, no matter how many times I just stood aside, she never stopped. I’m glad she was the only one though. I love you Mia, but I would never be able to live with myself if you went through the same thing we did.” Hermione nodded in understanding.

“I always wanted a sibling. I used to beg and plead with my parents to give me a brother or sister. It wasn’t until I was ten that I discovered that my parents couldn’t have another child. I never asked again.” She was quiet for a while. 

“Would you want kids Theo?” He shrugged 

“I guess. I’ve never really thought about it too hard, never had a reason too. I’d be afraid of turning into my father though. I get my hotheadedness from him.”

“Oh Theo. You wouldn’t be your father. I wouldn’t let you.” Hermione told him.“Blaise?” she asked

“Hell no. At least not right away. I have enough kids to keep me occupied for a long time. I’ll just play adoring uncle to yours. Eh Mia?” Hermione laughed

“How many kids do you want Draco?” He shrugged 

“Four? Five?” I don’t much care. I mostly just want a real family. Not the stupid facade that my father suggested was a family.”  _ and I want you to be their mum.  _ Sometimes he wondered if being in love with one of his best friends was worth the emotional trauma. But he knew it wouldn’t matter either way. Blaise snorted

“Liar. You just want to shove all of your father’s stupid ideals in his face.” 

“Ah, that’s just an added bonus.”  All of them burst into laughter.

 

As Hermione watched him sleep later, she wondered how he had slipped under her radar for so long. He was everything she had ever dreamed of. Smart, funny, gorgeous, kind (when he wanted to be)  Draco was in every sense of the word, her ideal man. If only he would let her in. She traced a finger along his jaw. She desperately wanted to kiss him but knew she couldn’t. Hermione let out a sigh and laid her head on his chest. He would tell her when he was ready. Until then, she would  wait. 


End file.
